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St  or y- sermons  for 


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A 


>TORY  -  SERMONS 


FOR  JUNIORS 


By 

ALFRED  J.  SADLER 

% 


With  an  Introduction  by 
CALVIN  W.  LAUFEE 


THE  ABINGDON  PRESS 
NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright,  1923,  by 
ALFRED  J.  SADLER 


All  rights  reserved,  including  that  of  translation 
into  foreign  languages,  including  the  Scandinavian 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


TO  MY  JUNIORS 
ALFRED  AND  CHRISTINE 
AND  TO  THE 
MOTHER  OF  MY  JUNIORS 
CHRISTINE  MITCHELL  SADLER 
THIS  VOLUME  IS  AFFECTIONATELY 


DEDICATED 


4 


I 


CONTENTS 


PART  ONE 
GENERAL 

PAGE 

Introduction .  9 

Preface .  11 

I.  The  Children  Who  Would  Not 

Play . 15 

II.  Footprints  and  Raindrops .  20 

III.  The  Boy  Who  Came  When  He 

Was  Called .  23 

IV.  The  Boy  Who  Did  Not  Run 

Away .  27 

V.  The  Boy  Who  Helped  Jesus  ....  31 

VI.  What  Can  a  Little  Girl  Do?.  .  .  35 

VII.  He  Paid  Too  Much  For  His 

Whistle .  38 

VIII.  Gardening .  42 

IX.  Weeds .  45 

X.  Looking  on  the  Bright  Side  ....  48 

XI.  Remember  the  Sabbath  Day  to 

Keep  It  Holy .  51 

XII.  “It  Can't  Be  Done !  Here  It  Is!”  55 

XIII.  The  Dwarf  and  the  Knight  ....  59 

XIV.  The  First  Sunday  School .  62 

XV.  The  Man  Who  Was  Not  Afraid 

to  Pray .  66 


6 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

XVI.  The  Man  With  a  Grouch. .  69 

XVII.  Christ  of  the  Andes .  73 

XVIII.  Take  a  Little  Honey  With  You.  77 

PART  TWO 
SERIAL  STORIES 
Games 

XIX.  Golf .  85 

XX.  Baseball .  89 

XXI.  Football .  92 

Summer  Experiences 

XXII.  Contrary  Winds .  99 

XXIII.  Rocks .  102 

A  Visit  to  the  Zoo 

XXIV.  Feeding-Time  at  the  Zoo .  107 

XXV.  The  Reptile  House .  110 

The  Three  Wise  Monkeys 

XXVI.  Speak  No  Evil .  115 

XXVII.  See  No  Evil .  119 

XXVIII.  Hear  No  Evil .  123 

Birds 

XXIX.  Jesus  and  the  Birds .  129 

XXX.  Sparrows . 133 

XXXI.  The  Robin .  137 

XXXII.  Cedar  Waxwing,  or  the  Polite 

Bird . 140 


CONTENTS 


7 


PAGE 

XXXni.  The  Busy  Bird — Jenny  Wren  . . .  143 
XXXIV.  The  Bad  Bird — Blacky  the  Crow  146 

Flowers 

XXXV.  The  Pansy .  151 

XXXVI.  The  Carnation .  155 

XXXVII.  The  Lily .  159 

XXXVIII.  The  Poppy .  163 

XXXIX.  The  Forget-Me-Not .  166 

XL.  The  Daisy  and  Its  Big  Brother.  170 

XLI.  The  Rose .  174 

PART  THREE 
SPECIAL  DAYS 

XLII.  George  Washington,  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Gentleman  (Washington’s 

Birthday) . 183 

XLIII.  Abraham  Lincoln  (Lincoln’s 

Birthday) .  186 

XLIV.  The  Meaning  of  Lent .  190 

XLV.  Palm  Sunday .  194 

XL VI.  Springtime  (Easter  Day) .  197 

XLVII.  Remember  (Memorial  Day) .  200 

XL VIII.  And  the  Child  Grew  (Children’s 

Day) .  203 

XLIX.  How  Thanksgiving  Day  Became 

a  National  Holiday . . 207 

L.  Armistice  Day .  213 

LI.  The  Story  of  the  Wise  Men 

(Christmas) .  219 

LII,  Blots  (Old  and  New  Year) . 222 


INTRODUCTION 


The  author  of  this  book  has  done  well  in 
connecting  his  stories  and  sermons  with  the 
life  and  interests  of  children.  He  has  found 
sermons  for  his  flock  of  £ 'little  folk5'  in  games 
and  festivals,  in  homely  watchwords  and 
proverbs,  in  vacation  experiences  and  visits 
to  the  Zoo.  There  are  stories  told  here  almost 
as  old  as  the  hills,  but  his  treatment  of  them 
has  made  them  fresh  as  the  dawn  which  began 
this  day.  The  common  flowers  of  the  road¬ 
side  and  the  rarer  specimens  of  the  conserva¬ 
tory  are  made  to  serve  his  purpose.  All 
through  this  collection  of  Stories  and  Junior 
Sermons — some  of  which  I  was  permitted  to 
hear,  to  my  delight  and  edification — one  feels 
a  spiritual  motive  which  challenges  deeper 
loyalty  to  life’s  great  virtues,  and  produces 
profounder  faith  in  Him  wdiose  comradeship 
is  the  inspiration  of  all  that  is  noblest  and 
best. 

These  stories  indicate  a  very  definite  tend¬ 
ency  in  modern  church  work,  and  have  been 
inspired  and  produced  by  it,  namely,  the 
training  of  children  in  Christian  worship  and 

9 


10 


INTRODUCTION 


service.  This  explains  the  growing  popular¬ 
ity  of  the  junior  congregation  which  has  come 
into  the  field  of  religious  effort,  because  a  large 
number  of  pastors,  like  the  author  of  this 
book,  have  recognized  the  spiritual  possi¬ 
bilities  of  the  young  and  have  determined 
upon  a  ministry  that  would  give  them  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  realization.  Consequently,  thou¬ 
sands  of  children  are  being  trained  in  public 
worship,  inspired  to  assume  those  social  and 
religious  attitudes  characteristic  of  Christianity, 
and  informed  in  those  ideas,  ideals,  and  pro¬ 
grams  which  sprang  from  the  great  heart  of 
Him  who  said:  “Suffer  the  little  children  to 
come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of 
such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.” 

Pastors  will  find  this  a  welcome  volume  in 
their  campaign  of  loving  endeavor  in  the 
junior  congregation,  and  parents  will  rejoice 
in  its  fascinating  pages  as  they  peruse  them 
at  the  hearth  with  the  “wee  folk  gathered 
round.” 

Calvin  W.  Laufer, 

Special  Field  Representative  for  Religious  Education,  Pres¬ 
byterian  Board  of  Publication  and  Sabbath  School  Work. 

New  York  City. 


PREFACE 


The  Story-Sermons  were  given  to  the  junior 
congregation  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Jersey  City,  New  Jersey,  during  the  past  five 
years,  and  are  now  published  at  the  urgent  re¬ 
quest  of  many  who  have  heard  them,  with  the 
hope  that  pastors,  parents  and  teachers  may 
find  them  helpful  in  their  work  with  the  children. 

The  author  desires  to  acknowledge  his  indebt¬ 
edness  to  the  many  sources  from  which  his  illus¬ 
trations  are  drawn,  and  in  particular  to  his  wife, 
Christine  Mitchell  Sadler,  who  read  all  of  the 
Story-Sermons  in  manuscript  as  they  were  being 
prepared  for  publication,  and  made  most  valu¬ 
able  criticisms. 


Alfred  J.  Sadler. 


PART  ONE 


GENERAL 


If  there  is  anything  that  will  endure 
The  eye  of  God,  because  it  still  is  pure, 

It  is  the  spirit  of  a  little  child. 

Fresh  from  his  hand,  and  therefore  undefiled. 
Nearer  the  gates  of  Paradise  than  we, 

Our  children  breathe  its  airs,  its  angels  see; 

And  when  they  pray,  God  hears  their  simple  prayer, 
Yea,  even  sheathes  his  sword,  in  judgment  bare.1 

— R.  H.  Stoddard. 

1  Quoted  from  Poetical  Illustrations,  Thomas  Y.  Crowell  Company, 
Publishers,  New  York. 


I 


THE  CHILDREN  WHO  WOULD  NOT 

PLAY 

How  many  of  you  children  have  played 
wedding?  Perhaps  your  sister  was  recently 
married,  and  you  were  so  interested  in  the 
ceremony,  that  you  thought  it  would  be  great 
fun  to  invent  a  wedding  game.  Do  you  know 
that  children  played  wedding  in  the  time 
of  Jesus?  Yes,  and  sometimes  they  quarreled 
about  it  too,  and  that  was  why  Jesus  spoke 
specially  of  it. 

One  day  he  stood  and  watched  the  chil¬ 
dren  playing  in  the  market  place,  which  was 
usually  a  large  open  square  in  the  city,  a 
fine  place  to  play.  Some  of  the  children 
wanted  to  play  wedding.  They  felt  happy 
and  joyous,  as  if  it  were  good  to  be  alive,  and 
they  began  to  play  on  the  flageolet  dance 
tunes  which  they  had  heard  at  weddings,  but 
for  some  reason,  the  other  children  were  cross 
and  sulky  and  would  not  play.  “All  right,” 
said  the  first  group,  “anything  to  oblige.  If 
you  won’t  play  wedding,  let’s  play  funeral.” 

15 


16  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


Rut  again  they  refused.  They  would  neither 
play  wedding  nor  funeral. 

A  little  later  Jesus  was  speaking  to  the 
Pharisees,  who  were  criticizing  him,  and  he 
said  to  them:  t£You  are  just  like  those  chil¬ 
dren  in  the  market  place  who  wouldn’t  play. 
John  the  Baptist  came,  wearing  camel’s  hair  and 
often  fasting,  but  he  did  not  please  you.  You 
thought  he  was  too  strict,  too  solemn.  I  attend 
feasts  and  go  rejoicing,  but  I  do  not  please  you 
either.” 

I  wonder  why  the  children  would  not  play. 
Can  any  of  you  guess?  Well,  we  are  not  told, 
but  I  imagine  it  was  because  they  had  quar¬ 
reled  about  something.  Games  reveal  charac¬ 
ter,  and  you  can  always  tell  spoiled  children 
— those  who  want  their  own  way.  They  are 
the  kind  who  quarrel  on  the  least  provocation, 
and  they  scowl,  and  growl,  and  sulk,  and 
refuse  to  play.  Of  course  none  of  you  chil¬ 
dren  are  like  that.  Yet  I  am  sorry  to  say 
that  even  the  very  best  of  friends  quarrel 
sometimes,  both  children  and  grown-ups,  and 
they  say  and  do  things  that  make  Jesus  sorry, 
for  which  they  themselves  are  sorry  afterward. 

I  read  the  other  day  of  a  new  way  to  stop 
a  quarrel.  Perhaps  you  would  like  to  hear 
it.  A  mother  was  sitting  by  an  open  window 
as  two  boys  were  playing  marbles  outside. 


CHILDREN  WOULD  NOT  PLAY  17 


As  the  game  went  on,  mother  heard  one  boy 
say,  “You  cheated.5’ 

The  other  boy  said,  “I  didn’t.” 

“You  did,”  was  the  reply,  and  then  the 
mother  thought  it  was  time  to  interfere. 

Instead  of  saying,  “Boys,  stop  your  quar¬ 
reling  this  instant,”  she  said:  “Sing  it,  chil¬ 
dren!  Sing  it!” 

They  looked  at  each  other  in  surprise,  not 
knowing  what  to  make  of  it,  when  out  of  the 
window  floated  this  song: 

“O  Willie,  you  cheated!” 

“I  didn’t!” 

“You  did!” 

“Sing  it,  boys,”  she  said  again. 

They  couldn’t  sing  it,  so  they  looked  at  each 
other  and  laughed.  They  were  ashamed  and 
stopped  quarreling. 

You  know,  boys  and  girls,  there  are  some 
things  you  cannot  sing.  You  cannot  sing 
your  anger.  Try  it  the  next  time  you  want 
to  tell  the  boy  who  displeases  you  what  you 
are  going  to  do  to  him.  You  cannot  do  it. 
Don’t  you  think  that  things  you  cannot  sing 
are  far  better  not  said? 

But  I  know  of  even  a  better  way  than  that 
to  stop  quarreling.  The  president  of  the 
Chicago  Kindergarten  College  told  this  story: 

“A  four-year-old  boy  was  quick-tempered, 


18  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


and  when  he  was  angry  he  would  say  harsh 
things  to  his  two-year-old  sister,  and  even 
strike  her.  One  day,  when  he  had  done  this, 
the  mother  called  him  to  her. 

“  ‘Philip,’  she  said,  quietly,  ‘it  makes 
mother  feel  very  sad  to  hear  you  speak  that 
way  to  your  little  sister.’ 

“  ‘I  know  it  does,  mother,’  the  boy  replied, 
‘but  I  just  can’t  help  it.’ 

“  ‘Do  you  know,  Philip,’  his  mother  con¬ 
tinued,  ‘that  sometimes  you  make  me  feel 
just  that  way  about  you?  Would  you  like  to 
know  what  I  do  to  keep  from  speaking  the 
cross  words  to  you?’ 

“The  boy  looked  up  into  his  mother’s  face, 
and  said,  ‘Yes,  mother.’ 

“  ‘When  I  feel  the  quick,  angry  words 
coming,  I  shut  my  eyes  for  a  moment,  and  say, 
“Please,  God,  help  me  to  be  strong.’  ” 

“The  boy  made  no  reply,  but,  kissing  his 
mother,  he  slipped  away  and  went  back  to  play 
with  his  sister.  Soon  he  was  angry  again, 
and  with  his  arm  in  the  air,  ready  to  strike  her, 
he  cried,  ‘You  shan’t  do  that,  sister!’ — but  at 
once  he  caught  himself  and  shut  his  eyes 
tight,  and  his  arm  dropped  to  his  side,  and 
when  he  opened  his  eyes,  he  said,  kindly,  ‘All 
right,  sister,  you  can  have  that,  I  will  take 
this.’  ” 


CHILDREN  WOULD  NOT  PLAY  19 


So,  boys  and  girls,  if  you  pray  to  God,  your 
heavenly  Father,  he  will  give  you  strength  to 
keep  from  quarreling  and  refusing  to  play 
with  your  little  friends. 


II 


FOOTPRINTS  AND  RAINDROPS 

When  I  was  in  college  the  professor  of 
geology  often  took  his  classes  out  to  study 
the  formation  of  the  rocks  in  the  country 
near  by.  One  day  we  went  down  to  the 
Connecticut  River,  and  there  in  a  rock  on  the 
bank  we  saw  the  tracks  of  a  great  animal, 
made  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  ago. 

One  day  this  very  large  animal  (you  can  see 
a  skeleton  of  an  animal  just  like  him  in  the 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York  city) 
walked  through  the  wet  sand,  leaving  every 
footprint  clearly  marked — just  as  animals  do 
to-day — and  through  the  course  of  centuries 
the  sand  changed  into  rock  and  the  footprints 
were  preserved.  But  a  little  farther  along  the 
bank  I  saw  what  seemed  to  me  even  more 
wonderful — little  hollo v/s  in  the  rocks  which 
were  once  the  marks  of  raindrops,  probably 
made  at  the  same  time  as  the  footprints. 
They  too  had  been  preserved  in  the  ancient 
rock,  and,  by  noticing  the  direction  in  which 
they  were  made,  you  could  tell  which  way 

20 


FOOTPRINTS  AND  RAINDROPS  21 


the  wind  was  blowing  at  the  time  these  rain¬ 
drops  fell  thousands  of  years  ago.  So,  boys 
and  girls,  I  want  you  to  remember  that  every 
word  you  speak  and  everything  you  do  make 
an  impression  upon  some  one  which  lasts  a 
long,  long  time,  like  the  impression  made  by 
those  raindrops.  That  is  what  we  call  our 
“influence.”  How  careful  we  ought  to  be  every 
day  to  speak  only  kind  words  and  do  only 
good  things! 

Now,  when  I  speak  about  your  influence 
upon  others  I  do  not  mean  that  you  should 
always  be  thinking  about  it.  That  wTould  be 
one  of  the  worst  things  you  could  do.  I  want 
you  to  live  your  lives  naturally,  joyously, 
happily,  always  doing  your  best.  Play  while 
you  play,  work  while  you  work,  but  ask  God 
every  morning  to  help  you  do  the  right,  and 
then  you  need  not  worry  about  your  influence. 
He  will  take  care  of  that.  It  is  like  casting  a 
shadow.  We  hold  up  the  object  between  the 
light  and  the  place  where  we  want  the  shadow 
cast  and  the  light  does  the  rest.  The  light 
corresponds  to  God.  We  are  the  object  and 
the  shadow  is  our  influence. 

“Before  we  make  you  well,  we  must  put 
you  to  sleep,”  said  a  kind  surgeon  to  a  little 
girl  as  he  was  about  to  give  her  ether.  “Then,” 
said  she,  “if  you  are  going  to  put  me  to  sleep, 


22  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


I  must  say  my  prayers  first,”  and  she  knelt 
down  and  repeated: 

“Now  I  lay  me  down  to  sleep, 

I  pray  thee,  Lord,  my  soul  to  keep. 

If  I  should  die  before  I  wake, 

I  pray  thee,  Lord,  my  soul  to  take.” 

That  night  the  surgeon  prayed  for  the  first 
time  in  twenty  years.  He  had  been  so  busy 
about  everything  else  that  he  had  forgotten 
about  God,  but  the  little  girl’s  words  reminded 
him.  She  didn’t  know  the  influence  her  words 
would  have.  She  didn’t  think  anything  about 
it.  She  only  did  what  was  right,  and  God 
blessed  her,  so  that,  unconsciously,  she  influ¬ 
enced  the  great  surgeon  and  brought  him 
back  to  God. 


i 


Ill 


THE  BOY  WHO  CAME  WHEN  HE 
WAS  CALLED 

“That  is  not  my  boy,”  said  one  mother, 
“because,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  he  does  not  come 
when  he  is  called,  especially  when  it  is  time 
to  get  up  in  the  morning.” 

“My  difficulty,”  says  another  mother,  “is 
that  my  children  do  not  come  from  play  when 
they  are  called.  They  say  they  do  not  hear 
me.  I’m  afraid,  however,  that  they  do  not 
want  to  hear.” 

“Mary,”  said  this  mother,  the  other  day, 
to  her  seven-year-old  daughter,  “why  did  you 
not  come  when  I  called  you?  Didn’t  you 
hear  me?” 

“Yes,  mother.” 

“Then,  why  didn’t  you  look  to  see  what  I 
wanted?” 

“Because,  mother,  I  knew  if  I  looked,  I 
would  have  to  come  in,  and  I  did  not  want 
to  come  in  just  yet.” 

So  you  see  a  great  many  boys  and  girls  do 
not  hear  when  father  or  mother  calls  because 

23 


24  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


they  do  not  want  to  hear.  But  the  boy  about 
whom  I  am  going  to  talk  to  you  this  morn¬ 
ing  came  when  he  was  called. 

Let  me  tell  you  the  first  part  of  the  story, 
and  see  if  you  know  his  name.  This  boy’s 
mother  for  a  long  time  had  prayed  to  God 
to  send  a  baby  boy  to  her  home,  and  at  last 
God  heard  her  prayer.  When  he  was  about 
as  big  as  you  boys  she  took  him  up  to  God’s 
house  and  left  him  there,  because  she  had 
promised  God  that  she  would  do  so.  All  day 
long  he  was  busy  opening  doors  and  closing 
them,  cleaning  the  lamps  and  altar,  and  doing 
whatever  was  needed  by  the  good  old  man 
Eli,  who  was  in  charge.  Now,  do  you  know 
who  the  little  boy  was?  Yes — Samuel! 

One  night  as  Samuel  was  lying  on  his  little 
cot  he  heard  some  one  calling,  and  instead  of 
rubbing  his  eyes  and  saying,  “What  is  it?” 
he  rose  up  quickly  and  came  to  Eli,  because 
he  thought  Eli  was  calling,  and  asked:  “What 
is  it?  What  do  you  want  me  to  do?” 

“Why,  I  didn’t  call  you,”  said  Eli. 

“I  thought  you  did.  I  must  Iv&ve  dreamed 
it,”  said  Samuel,  and  went  back  to  his  bed. 
But  a  second  and  third  time  Samuel  heard 
some  one  calling,  and  each  time  he  ran  to 
Eli.  Then  Eli  realized  that  it  must  be  God 
calling  him,  and  he  told  Samuel  if  he  heard 


THE  BOY  WHO  CAME 


25 


the  voice  again,  to  say,  4 'Speak,  Lord,  for  thy 
servant  heareth.”  Samuel  obeyed,  and  God 
spoke  to  him,  and  because  he  was  so  obedient, 
because  he  came  when  he  was  called,  God 
made  him  his  messenger  to  Eli,  and  later  on 
the  prophet  over  all  Israel. 

The  first  thing  necessary  for  all  true  success, 
boys  and  girls,  is  obedience,  prompt  obedience. 
I  wonder  if  we  realize  how  all  good  men,  all 
great  men,  learned  this  lesson  when  they 
were  boys.  We  call  George  Washington  the 
“Father  of  his  Country,”  “First  in  war,  first 
in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  country¬ 
men,”  because  he  was  both  good  and  great, 
but  he  would  never  have  become  so  had  he 
not  learned  to  obey. 

“How  did  you  manage  to  raise  such  a  splen¬ 
did  son?”  said  a  distinguished  French  officer 
to  Mrs.  Washington,  our  first  President’s 
mother. 

She  replied,  “I  taught  him  to  obey.” 

So  with  Jesus  whom  we  love.  After  his 
visit  to  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  when  he 
was  twelve  years  old,  we  read  that  Jesus 
went  along  with  his  father  and  mother  to 
Nazareth,  and  was  subject  unto  them.  That 
means  he  did  as  he  was  told.  So,  boys  and 
girls,  learn  to  obey  your  parents,  your  teachers, 
and  you  will  have  taken  the  first  step  toward 


26  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


being  like  George  Washington — yes,  you  will 
have  taken  the  first  step  toward  being  like 
Jesus  himself.  One  of  the  best  ways  to  begin 
is  to  follow  the  example  of  the  boy  Samuel  and 
always  come  when  you  are  called. 

“Oh,  give  me  Samuel’s  ear, 

The  open  ear,  O  Lord, 

Alive  and  quick  to  hear 
Each  whisper  of  thy  word. 

Like  him,  to  answer  at  thy  call 
And  to  obey  thee,  first  of  all.” 


IV 


THE  BOY  WHO  DID  NOT  BUN  AWAY 

A  most  interesting  story  is  told  of  a  little 
drummer  boy  who  was  in  the  Civil  War.  He 
was  so  enthusiastic  over  his  work,  and  placed 
so  much  importance  upon  it,  that  he  wanted 
to  be  in  everything  in  which  his  regiment  was. 
The  officers  and  soldiers  laughed  at  his  enthusi¬ 
asm,  because  he  apparently  thought  that  the 
success  of  the  whole  army  depended  upon 
him  and  the  way  he  beat  his  drum;  and  the 
day  did  come  when  the  army  was  saved  by 
his  drum.  One  morning,  very  early,  the 
enemy  made  a  surprise  attack.  Being  a 
surprise  attack,  the  Union  soldiers  were  not 
prepared  for  it,  and  half  awake  and  with 
everything  in  confusion,  some  of  the  soldiers 
started  to  run,  so  that  a  stampede  of  the 
whole  army  threatened.  Suddenly  the  beat 
of  the  drummer  was  heard.  Rat-a-tap-tap ! 
Rat-a-tap-tap !  It  was  the  boy  calling  them 
to  attention,  for  he  always  slept  with  his 
drum  at  his  side.  The  men,  hearing  the  drum¬ 
mer,  and  remembering  their  training,  obeyed 

27 


28  STORY -SERMON S  FOR  JUNIORS 


orders,  fell  into  line  and  successfully  resisted  the 
attack  of  the  enemy.  So  the  army  was  saved 
because  a  boy  did  not  run  away,  but  did  his  duty. 

This  morning  we  are  going  to  talk  about 
the  boy  in  the  Bible  who  did  not  run  away. 
It  was  also  a  time  of  war.  His  older  brothers 
had  enlisted  and  were  with  the  army,  but 
he,  being  the  youngest,  stayed  at  home  and 
helped  his  father  on  the  farm.  His  particular 
duty  was  to  tend  the  sheep.  Oh,  yes,  you 
know  who  it  was.  “David!”  That’s  right. 

Sometimes  the  sheep  would  be  on  the  hill¬ 
side  near  home,  and  he  could  see  his  home 
in  the  distance.  Sometimes  he  took  the  sheep 
far  away  from  home  to  seek  green  pastures. 
Sometimes  he  led  them  to  a  sweet  clear  brook 
to  quench  their  thirst,  but  at  all  times  he 
watched  them  very  carefully  so  that  no  harm 
should  come  to  them,  for  he  loved  his  sheep. 
If  he  saw  one  straying  away,  he  called  it  by 
name  (for  each  sheep  had  a  name  of  its  own), 
and  it  would  come  back,  for  the  sheep  came 
when  they  were  called.  Sometimes  when  he 
was  far  away  with  his  sheep  it  would  be  dark 
before  they  reached  home,  and  occasionally  it 
was  necessary  to  stay  out  all  night  on  the 
hillside,  but  he  always  guarded  them  care¬ 
fully.  On  one  such  night  as  this  David  heard 
a  commotion  among  his  flock.  He  turned 


DID  NOT  RUN  AWAY 


29 


quickly.  A  lion  had  come  up,  seized  one  of 
the  wee  little  lambs  and  was  making  off  with 
it.  David  leaped  in  pursuit  and  soon  caught 
the  lion,  for  he  was  a  fleet  runner,  and  struck 
him  a  blow  with  his  shepherd’s  staff.  The 
lion  dropped  the  lamb  and  turned  to  attack 
David,  but  he  was  a  boy  who  did  not  run 
away.  He  caught  the  lion  by  the  beard  and 
slew  him  there.  So  he  rescued  the  lamb  from 
death,  and  taking  it  gently  in  his  arms,  carried 
it  back  to  the  flock.  Another  time  a  bear 
attacked  the  flock,  but,  being  a  boy  who  did 
not  run  away,  David  killed  it  also.  Now  see 
what  was  the  result. 

His  father  sent  him  to  the  army  with 
food  for  his  brethren,  for  in  those  days  they 
had  no  quartermaster’s  department  as  we  have 
now.  The  soldiers  had  to  find  food  as  best 
they  could,  so  the  parents  often  sent  them 
food.  When  David  reached  the  camp  where 
his  brothers  were  he  found  the  army  in  a 
dreadful  state  of  fear  and  consternation  be¬ 
cause  of  a  great  giant  who  had  challenged 
them,  and  there  was  no  one  to  accept  the 
challenge.  David,  when  he  heard  it,  said : 
£T  will  go  and  fight  him.” 

They  laughed  at  this. 

C£What!  a  boy  fight  a  giant?” 

Then  he  said,  “I  killed  a  lion  and  a  bear; 


30  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


and  this  giant  is  no  more  than  they,  and  the 
God  who  delivered  me  out  of  the  paw  of  the 
lion,  who  delivered  me  out  of  the  paw  of  the 
bear,  will  deliver  me  out  of  his  hands.” 

You  see  if  he  had  run  away  when  the  lion 
and  the  bear  attacked  him,  David  would  not 
have  had  the  courage  to  face  the  giant,  but 
he  did  not  run.  So,  trusting  in  God  for  pro¬ 
tection  and  deliverance,  the  boy  who  did  not 
run  away  went  out  with  his  sling  to  fight  the 
giant,  killed  him,  and  saved  his  country. 

Whenever  you  are  in  the  path  of  duty, 
no  matter  what  the  danger  or  temptation, 
never  run  away. 


V 


THE  BOY  WHO  HELPED  JESUS 

The  disciples  had  just  returned  from  a 
preaching  trip.  After  they  had  reported  to 
Jesus  what  they  had  accomplished  he  said  to 
them,  “Come  ye  yourselves  apart  into  a  desert 
place  and  rest  awhile.  ”  By  “desert  place” 
Jesus  did  not  mean  a  barren,  desolate,  sandy 
place  without  trees  and  grass  and  water,  but 
a  quiet  country  place,  where  there  were  no 
houses  nor  people. 

So  Jesus  and  his  disciples  took  a  boat,  and 
crossing  to  the  other  side  of  the  lake  which 
was  called  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  climbed  the 
mountain.  As  they  rested  on  a  sunny  slope 
they  could  look  down  upon  the  lovely  flowers 
and  grass  of  the  meadow,  where  a  little  wind¬ 
ing  river,  the  River  Jordan,  entered  the  lake. 

They  had  not  been  resting  very  long,  how¬ 
ever,  before  they  saw  great  crowds  of  people 
coming  toward  them.  While  Jesus  was  disap¬ 
pointed  because  the  disciples  could  not  rest 
longer — he  never  thought  of  himself — he  was 
so  sorry  for  the  people,  that  he  began  to  teach 

31 


32  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


them  and  tell  them  stories.  Now,  Jesus  could 
tell  wonderful  stories,  and  he  was  such  an 
interesting  teacher  that  the  time  passed  very 
quickly,  and  before  they  realized  it,  it  began 

to  grow  dark. 

The  disciples  came  to  Jesus  and  said,  “The 
people  are  very  tired  and  hungry.  Shall  we 
send  them  to  the  neighboring  villages  to  get 
something  to  eat?” 

Jesus  replied,  “You  give  them  something 
to  eat.” 

“How  can  we?”  said  they. 

“Why,”  said  Philip,  “even  if  we  had  forty 
dollars’  worth  of  bread,  it  would  not  be 

sufficient!” 

“How  much  do  you  have?”  asked  Jesus. 

Andrew  replied,  “There  is  a  lad  here  with 
five  loaves  and  twn  small  fishes.” 

Now,  the  loaves  at  that  time  were  not  as 
large  as  ours.  Five  loaves  like  those  we  buy 
from  the  baker’s  shop  would  be  quite  a  bundle 
for  a  boy  to  carry  around  all  day.  No,  a 
loaf  was  just  about  as  large  as  a  cookie,  and 
of  the  same  shape.  We  are  told  that  they 
were  barley  cakes,  and  that  indicates  that  the 
boy  was  very  poor,  because  the  rich  people 
ate  wheat  cakes.  Besides,  the  two  small  fishes 
were  not  fresh  fish,  like  our  pickerel  or  trout 
but  two  very  small  dried  fish. 


THE  BOY  WHO  HELPED  JESUS  33 


Nevertheless,  after  the  disciples  had  seated 
the  people  in  rows  on  the  grass,  Jesus  took 
the  five  loaves  and  the  two  fishes,  and  prayed 
over  them,  and  then  gave  them  to  the  dis¬ 
ciples,  who  in  turn  passed  them  on  to  the 
multitude.  And  what  do  you  think?  They 
were  sufficient  to  feed  five  thousand,  and 
twelve  baskets  full  were  left  over!  Five  thou¬ 
sand  fed  from  five  little  barley  cakes  and  two 
small  fishes?  Yes,  because  Jesus  performed  a 
wonderful  miracle,  and  this  boy  helped  him 
do  it. 

I  wish  we  knew  this  boy’s  name,  but  we 
do  not.  There  are  some  things  we  do  know 
about  him,  however.  He  was  thoughtful  and 
looked  ahead.  Some  boys,  when  they  are 
out  picnicking,  eat  up  all  their  lunch  at  once, 
and  then  go  hungry  for  the  rest  of  the  day. 
But  this  boy  exercised  self-control.  He  knew 
he  would  need  some  food  before  night,  so  he 
left  part  of  his  lunch,  and  so  was  able  to  help 
Jesus.  Then,  too,  he  was  unselfish.  He  was 
willing  to  give  up  his  lunch  for  others,  even 
though  he  might  need  it  himself.  Shall  wTe 
try  to  be  like  him?  Then  perhaps  we  too  can 
help  Jesus.  Wouldn’t  you  like  to  help  Jesus? 

Jesus  came  to  tell  people  about  his  heav¬ 
enly  Father,  to  speak  kind  words  and  do  kind 
deeds,  and  to  help  men  and  women  and  boys 


34  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


and  girls  to  do  right.  You  can  do  that.  You 
can  tell  others  about  your  heavenly  Father. 
You  can  speak  kind  words  and  you  can  do 
kind  deeds.  Just  as  this  boy  gave  his  lunch 
for  others  so  you  can  give  your  savings — 
your  ten  cents,  your  five  cents,  and  even  your 
pennies — to  those  who  are  in  need — the  poor 
starving  children  in  Europe  and  Asia  or  in 
our  own  America.  Whenever  you  do  this  you 
are  helping  Jesus. 


VI 


WHAT  CAN  A  LITTLE  GIRL  DO? 

So  many  times  have  we  heard  boys — yes, 
and  older  people  too — say,  “What  can  a  little 
girl  do?”  and  say  it  in  such  a  sarcastic  tone 
that  I  am  going  to  tell  you  this  morning  what 
one  little  girl  did. 

We  see  her  playing  around  so  happily  in 
her  home  in  northern  Israel — for  children  are 
children  the  world  over — and  in  her  study 
hours  she  learned  about  God  and  his  prophets. 

One  day  a  company  of  Syrian  soldiers  came 
along  robbing  all  the  houses.  In  the  con¬ 
fusion  she  was  separated  from  her  father  and 
mother,  and  the  soldiers  took  her,  poor  little 
frightened  girl,  and  carried  her  off  to  their 
own  distant  land,  Syria.  There  she  was  made 
a  slave  in  the  house  of  a  general  whose  name 
was  Naaman;  and  her  special  duty  was  to 
wait  on  Naaman’s  wife. 

Now,  Naaman  was  a  great  general,  and 
was  known  and  loved  all  over  the  country 
as  General  Pershing  is  in  America.  But  poor 
Naaman  had  the  most  dreaded  of  all  diseases: 
he  was  a  leper. 


35 


36  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


This  little  girl  was  so  sorry  for  him,  and 
often  wondered  what  she  could  do  to  help. 
But  what  could  a  little  girl  do?  One  day  a 
thought  came  to  her.  I  think  it  was  God  who 
put  the  thought  in  her  mind,  don’t  you?  And 
she  went  to  her  mistress  and  said,  “O,  I  wish 
that  my  lord  Naaman  could  go  to  the  prophet 
who  is  in  Samaria.  He  could  cure  him  of  his 
leprosy.” 

Now,  this  little  girl  must  have  been  very 
good,  and  must  have  done  her  work  so  faith¬ 
fully  that  her  mistress  trusted  her,  because 
she  was  so  impressed  with  the  little  girl’s 
story  that  she  told  her  husband.  The  result 
was  they  followed  her  advice,  and  the  great 
general  went  to  the  prophet  in  Samaria,  whose 
name  was  Elisha,  and  was  cured  of  his  leprosy, 
and  was  also  led  to  acknowledge  the  God  of 
Israel  as  the  true  God.  How  he  was  cured  is 
another  story,  but  I  want  you  to  notice  that 
this  little  girl  was  the  one  who  suggested  that 
he  go  to  the  prophet.  Yes,  a  little  girl  can  do 
just  as  much  for  Jesus  as  a  boy,  and  some¬ 
times  more! 

Juniors,  do  you  remember  the  letter  our 
missionary  in  China,  Doctor  Dobson,  wrote  to 
you?  He  said,  “Little  girls  in  China  are  taught 
that  they  are  of  very  little  use,  and  the  boys 
are  told  that  the  girls  are  their  slaves.”  “The 


WHAT  CAN  A  LITTLE  GIRL  DO?  37 


boys  are  taught  to  read,  but  the  girls  are 
not  considered  worth  teaching.”  What,  then, 
can  a  little  girl  in  China  do? 

Do  you  know  the  story  of  the  little  Chinese 
girl  who  was  a  slave?  She  was  taken  to  a 
missionary  hospital  in  Canton,  just  as  little 
Tak  Fuk,  our  own  little  blind  girl,  was  brought 
to  Doctor  Dobson’s  hospital.  She  was  both 
blind  and  lame,  and  so  her  mistress  deserted 
her.  After  a  careful  examination  the  doctor 
found  it  necessary  to  cut  off  her  injured  leg. 
She  was  in  the  hospital  a  long  time,  but  before 
she  left  they  taught  her  about  God  our  heavenly 
Father  and  about  Jesus.  Then  they  found 
that  the  poor  little  girl  had  leprosy,  like  Naa- 
man,  so  she  was  compelled  to  leave  the  hos¬ 
pital  and  the  friends  she  loved  there,  and  go 
to  the  lonely  place  where  just  the  lepers  live. 
But  she  loved  Jesus  now,  and  she  was  so 
happy  that  she  told  the  other  lepers  about 
him.  As  a  result,  so  many  lepers  became 
Christians  that  in  five  years  a  church  was 
organized.  This  was  what  a  little  blind  leper 
girl  did. 

So  whenever  you  hear  anyone  say,  4 ‘What 
can  a  little  girl  do?”  tell  them  about  the  He¬ 
brew  maiden  and  the  little  Chinese  leper  girl. 


VII 


HE  PAID  TOO  MUCH  FOR  HIS 

WHISTLE 

How  many  of  you  have  heard  of  Benjamin 
Franklin?  Everyone,  of  course,  for  he  was 
one  of  the  great  men  in  the  early  history  of 
our  country.  You  all  know  the  story  of  his 
kite.  One  day  in  a  severe  thunderstorm  he 
went  out  and  flew  a  kite,  and  by  means  of  a 
key,  attracted  the  lightning.  That  was  one 
of  the  first  experiments  made  in  electricity. 
You  will  read  about  it  when  you  grow  older. 
This  morning  I  will  tell  you  another  story 
about  Benjamin  Franklin. 

Once,  when  he  was  a  boy,  some  friends 
came  to  visit  his  home,  and  before  leaving 
gave  him  some  money.  Like  most  boys, 
instead  of  saving  the  money,  he  went  out  to 
the  store  to  spend  it.  What  should  he  buy? 
The  first  thing  he  saw  in  the  shop  was  a  wooden 
whistle.  He  wanted  it  very  much,  so  he  went 
in  and  offered  the  man  all  the  money  he  had. 
The  man  accepted  his  offer,  took  the  money, 
and  gave  him  the  whistle.  He  blew  the  whistle 
all  the  morning,  and  had  a  wonderful  time, 

38 


HE  PAID  TOO  MUCH 


39 


until  he  grew  tired  of  it.  Later  on  he  found, 
to  his  surprise,  that  he  had  paid  four  times 
as  much  for  it  as  he  ought  to  have  done.  He 
paid  too  much  for  his  whistle. 

You  remember,  last  week,  in  speaking  of 
what  a  little  girl  can  do,  I  told  you  how  Naa- 
man,  the  great  general,  by  following  the  advice 
of  the  little  Hebrew  maiden,  went  to  the 
prophet  Elisha  and  was  cured  of  his  leprosy. 
Now,  Naaman  was  so  grateful  that  he  came 
back  to  the  prophet  and  offered  him  a  large 
reward,  but  the  prophet  refused  to  accept  it. 
He  had  simply  done  his  duty,  and  he  would 
not  take  money  for  that.  The  Boy  Scout 
motto,  you  remember,  is  “Never  take  money 
for  doing  a  good  turn.”  So,  while  there  were 
no  Boy  Scouts  in  those  days,  Elisha  looked 
upon  this  as  a  good  turn.  Then,  too,  he 
wanted  Naaman  to  be  grateful  to  God. 

After  Naaman  had  started  back  home  again, 
Gehazi,  the  servant  of  Elisha,  said  to  himself: 
“Isn’t  it  a  pity  that  my  master  would  not 
accept  any  of  that  money?  He  made  a  great 
mistake.  How  foolish  he  is!  I  am  going  to 
have  some  for  myself.”  So  he  ran  after  Naa¬ 
man,  and  told  him  that  Elisha  had  changed 
his  mind.  Two  sons  of  the  prophet  had  come 
very  unexpectedly  to  be  his  guests,  and  he 
would  like  a  talent  of  silver  (about  two  thou- 


40  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


sand  dollars — a  large  sum  of  money  in  those 
days),  and  two  changes  of  raiment  for  them. 

Naaman  was  very  glad  to  give  them,  for 
he  was  really  and  truly  grateful,  and  he  made 
Gehazi  take  two  talents  of  silver,  instead  of 
one,  and  the  two  changes  of  raiment,  think¬ 
ing,  of  course,  they  were  for  the  prophet. 

So  Gehazi  came  back,  hid  the  money  and 
the  raiment  in  the  house,  and  then  came 
into  the  presence  of  his  master. 

“Where  have  you  been?”  Elisha  asked. 

“I  haven’t  been  anywhere.  I  didn’t  go  out,” 
Gehazi  replied. 

Not  only  was  Gehazi  covetous,  but  he  told 
a  lie.  That  is  the  way  it  usually  is,  if  you 
commit  one  sin,  you  feel  that  you  must  com¬ 
mit  another  to  cover  it  up. 

Gehazi,  however,  could  not  cover  up  his 
sin;  he  could  not  deceive  his  master,  for  Elisha 
knew  where  he  had  been  and  what  he  had 
done.  So  he  said  to  him,  “Because  you  have 
done  this  thing,  the  leprosy  of  Naaman  shall 
come  upon  you.” 

There  Gehazi  was,  with  all  his  money  and 
his  clothes,  but  he  had  paid  too  much  for 
them — his  health,  his  honesty,  and  his  honor. 
He  paid  too  much  for  his  whistle! 

Even  boys  and  girls  do  this  sometimes. 
They  do  it  when  they  pay  too  much  for  things 


HE  PAID  TOO  MUCH 


41 


which  will  only  give  them  pleasure  just  for 
a  little  while,  but  which  prevent  them  from 
doing  worth-while  things.  They  do  it  when 
they  cheat,  or  deceive,  or  do  wrong  in  order 
that  they  may  have  a  good  time,  or  obtain 
for  themselves  something  which  they  desire. 
Boys  and  girls,  don’t  pay  too  much  for  your 
whistles ! 


VIII 


GARDENING 

(Object:  Various  Seeds) 

The  great  need  of  the  world  to-day  is  food, 
and  our  President  has  urged  us  all,  men  and 
women,  boys  and  girls,  to  do  our  bit  in  supply¬ 
ing  this  need.  The  Boy  Scouts  have  taken 
for  their  motto,  “Every  Scout  to  feed  a  sol¬ 
dier.”  That  does  not  mean  that  the  Boy 
Scout  will  send  all  the  vegetables  he  raises  to 
some  particular  soldier,  but  that  he  will  pro¬ 
vide  them  for  his  own  family  and  so  leave 
that  much  more  in  the  markets  for  the  gov¬ 
ernment  to  buy. 

I  have  here  a  collection  of  seeds  (show 
seeds  of  various  vegetables).  Before  we  can 
use  these,  we  must  prepare  the  soil.  We  must 
either  plow  the  ground  or  spade  it  thoroughly 
and  fertilize  it.  Notice  I  said  “thoroughly.” 
The  Scoutmaster  engaged  some  men  to  spade 
the  back  yard  and  prepare  it  for  the  Boy  Scouts. 
The  men  did  not  do  their  work  thoroughly, 
however,  and  as  a  result  the  grass  all  came 
up  and  the  work  has  to  be  done  over  again. 

42 


GARDENING 


43 


Remember  that  “ whatever  is  worth  doing  is 
worth  doing  well.” 

Then  notice  that  we  reap  what  we  sow. 
If  I  plant  this  parsley  seed,  what  shall  I  reap? 
Radishes?  No,  parsley.  If  I  plant  this  potato, 
shall  I  reap  turnips?  “Potatoes,”  you  say.  Of 
course;  we  reap  what  we  sow.  So  it  is  in  our 
lives.  If  we  sow  good  thoughts,  good  words, 
we  reap  good  deeds  and  a  pure  life.  We  reap 
what  we  sow. 

We  also  reap  more  than  we  sow.  One  grain 
of  wdieat  will  produce  thirty  other  grains,  or 
perhaps  sixty  or  one  hundred.  That  is  what 
Jesus  meant  when  he  said  in  the  parable  of 
the  sower  that  “The  good  seed  brought  forth 
fruit — some  thirty  fold,  some  sixty  fold  and  some 
an  hundredfold.” 

They  tell  us  that  the  seed  of  the  sunflower 
sometimes  produces  as  many  as  four  thousand 
seeds,  and  that  a  single  thistle  seed  has  been 
known  to  produce  as  high  as  twenty -four  thou¬ 
sand  seeds  in  a  single  summer.  When  Australia 
was  first  colonized  by  men  and  women  from 
Great  Britain  they  found  no  thistle  seed  there, 
so  a  man  in  Scotland  sent  a  package  to  his 
friend  in  the  new  land,  '  because,”  he  said, 
“it  was  too  bad  for  them  to  be  without  their 
national  flower/'  It  was  such  a  small  seed 
that  the  officials  allowed  it  to  be  planted, 


44  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


thinking  it  would  do  no  harm.  Now,  several 
sections  of  the  country  are  overrun  with  the 
Scotch  thistle,  and  it  is  the  plague  of  all  the 
farmers.  If  we  sow  one  bad  thought,  we 
reap  many.  If  we  sow  a  good  thought,  or  a 
kind  word,  we  likewise  will  reap  many  more 
than  we  sow. 

An  Indian  chief,  in  the  province  of  Bengal 
in  northern  India,  learned  to  read,  and  the 
first  thing  he  read  was  a  little  leaflet  telling 
him  about  Jesus.  Through  the  influence  of 
this  tract  he  gave  his  heart  to  Jesus  and  he 
became  so  enthusiastic  that  he  went  back  to 
his  native  village  and  told  all  the  men  and 
women  about  him,  and  as  a  result  fifteen 
hundred  were  baptized  in  that  one  year  and 
received  into  the  church,  and  all  because  the 
chief  read  one  tract  which  cost  only  one  penny. 
We  reap  more  than  we  sow! 


IX 


WEEDS 

(Object:  Weeds) 

What  is  this  that  I  hold  in  my  hand? 
Weeds.  And  where  do  they  grow?  In  gar¬ 
dens.  Yes.  That  is  one  reason  why  so  many 
boys  and  girls  do  not  like  gardens — there  are 
so  many  weeds  in  them.  Sometimes  they 
think  that  weeds  were  made  purposely  to  keep 
boys  from  going  fishing  or  playing  ball,  be¬ 
cause  just  when  they  are  ready  to  start  with 
the  other  boys  father  or  mother  sends  them 
into  the  garden  to  pull  weeds.  So  boys  and 
girls  do  not  have  a  good  opinion  of  weeds. 
Neither  do  their  fathers  and  mothers,  because 
they  know  that  the  weeds  keep  the  good  seed 
from  growing.  Jesus,  you  remember,  in  tell¬ 
ing  the  story  about  the  sower,  said  that  some 
of  the  seed  fell  among  thorns  (which  would 
correspond  to  our  weeds),  and  the  thorns 
sprang  up  and  choked  them.  The  seeds  could 
not  grow  and  could  not  bear  fruit. 

Now,  weeds  are  so  troublesome  because 
they  have  such  small  beginnings  and  grow  so  ^ 


46  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


fast.  They  tell  us  that  one  of  the  dandelions 
which  grow  in  our  lawns,  as  well  as  in  our 
gardens,  has  two  thousand  seeds,  and  the 
common  dock  has  thirteen  thousand,  while 
the  red  poppy  has  fifty  thousand.  That  is 
why  it  is  so  hard  to  get  rid  of  them.  There 
are  so  many  of  them  and  they  are  so  persistent. 
It  is  useless  to  cut  off  the  tops — you  must 
pull  them  up  by  the  roots  and  be  sure  to  get 
all  the  roots,  for  if  you  do  not  the  weeds  will 
come  right  up  again.  Remember  this  when 
you  make  your  own  gardens,  as  I  hope  you 
will. 

Now,  weeds  do  not  suggest  pleasant  things 
but  bad  things,  like  bad  tempers,  bad  thoughts, 
selfishness  and  greed,  which  crowd  the  good 
things  out  of  your  lives.  Like  weeds,  the 
bad  things  come  from  neglect.  We  have  not 
been  careful  to  see  no  evil,  and  to  hear  no 
evil;  and  the  bad  things  have  entered  our 
hearts  and  taken  root  there.  Then  they  grow 
very  fast  indeed,  like  the  weeds.  For  example, 
a  boy  who  has  told  a  lie  finds  it  very  easy 
to  tell  another,  and  soon  the  habit  grows 
upon  him,  so  that  no  one  believes  him.  Per¬ 
haps  he  has  an  apple  or  some  other  good  thing, 
and  he  refuses  to  share  it  with  his  little  sister 
or  his  playmate — he  wants  to  keep  it  all  for 
himself.  Now,  this  is  a  very  little  thing. 


WEEDS 


47 


but  it  is  what  we  would  call  selfishness,  and 
selfishness  is  like  a  weed:  it  grows,  oh,  so  fast, 
and  soon  the  boy  is  selfish  and  greedy  all  the 
time. 

But  while  weeds  stand  for  evil  things, 
flowers  stand  for  good  things,  and  I  am  sure 
we  would  all  much  rather  have  flowers  than 
weeds,  whether  in  our  gardens  or  in  our  lives. 
So  let  us  pray  the  prayer  of  the  little  Arab 
girl:  “Take  away  all  ugly  weeds  from  my 
heart  and  plant  beautiful  flowers  there,  that 
it  may  be  always  sweet  for  Jesus/’ 


X 


LOOKING  ON  THE  BRIGHT  SIDE 

Optimist!  Pessimist!  I  wonder  how  many 
of  you  boys  and  girls  know  what  those  words 
mean?  They  are  long  words,  but  you  often 
hear  them.  Sometimes  you  will  hear  father 
say,  “Mr.  Jones  is  an  optimist,  while  Mr. 
Smith  is  a  pessimist.”  What  does  he  mean? 
Why,  he  means  that  Mr.  Jones  looks  on  the 
bright  side,  while  Mr.  Smith  looks  on  the 
dark  side.  You  know  some  people — boys  and 
girls  as  well  as  grown-ups — are  always  looking 
on  the  dark  side.  If  they  are  planning  to 
attend  a  picnic  or  their  annual  Sunday-school 
excursion,  they  fear  it  will  rain,  for  “something 
is  always  happening  to  take  the  joy  out  of 
life.”  Then  they  see  some  one,  or  perhaps 
they  read  of  some  one  who  is  doing  wrong, 
and  they  say:  “Oh,  everybody  is  wicked; 
things  are  all  wrong.  I  am  sure  the  world  is 
going  to  the  dogs.”  People  have  been  saying 
that  for  a  long  time,  for  there  have  always 
been  pessimists;  but  the  world  has  not  gone 
to  the  dogs  yet. 


48 


LOOKING  ON  BRIGHT  SIDE 


49 


1  “My  grandpa  notes  the  world’s  worn  cogs, 

And  says  we’re  going  to  the  dogs. 

His  granddad  in  his  house  of  logs, 

Swore  things  were  going  to  the  dogs; 

His  dad  amid  the  Flemish  bogs, 

Vowed  things  were  going  to  the  dogs, 

The  cave  man  in  his  queer  skin  togs, 

Said  things  were  going  to  the  dogs, 

But  this  is  what  I  have  to  state, 

The  dogs  have  had  an  awful  wait.” 

No,  the  world  has  not  gone  to  the  dogs,  be¬ 
cause  God  is  here,  and  he  is  taking  care  of  it 
and  always  will.  So  don’t  be  pessimists! 
Don’t  look  on  the  dark  side!  Don’t  be  always 
expecting  and  talking  about  unpleasant  things 
going  to  happen;  but  be  optimists.  Look  on 
the  bright  side.  Talk  about  the  good  things, 
the  happy  things,  the  pleasant  things — and 
you  can  find  lots  of  them  to  talk  about  if  you 
only  try.  Why  not  be  like  the  little  bare-foot 
boy  whom  the  man  met  on  the  road,  carrying 
a  basket  of  blackberries,  and  said  to  him, 
“Sammy,  where  did  you  get  such  nice  berries?” 

“Over  there,  sir,  in  the  briars.” 

“Won’t  your  mother  be  glad  to  see  you 
come  home  with  a  basket  of  such  nice  ripe 
fruit?” 

“Yes,  sir,”  said  Sammy.  “She  always  seems 


1  Author  Unknown. 


50  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


glad  when  I  hold  up  the  berries,  and  I  don’t 
tell  her  anything  about  the  briars  in  my  feet.” 

The  man  rode  on.  Sammy’s  remark  had 
given  him  a  lesson,  and  he  resolved  that  hence¬ 
forth  he  too  would  try  to  hold  up  the  berries 
and  say  nothing  about  the  briars. 


XI 


REMEMBER  THE  SABBATH  DAY  TO 
KEEP  IT  HOLY 

How  many  of  you  know  the  Ten  Com¬ 
mandments  which  God  gave  to  Moses  on 
Mount  Sinai?  It  is  splendid  to  see  so  many 
hands  raised.  I  want  you  all  to  learn  them 
so  well  that  you  will  never  forget  them  even 
when  you  grow  up. 

The  words  that  I  quoted  form  the  first 
sentence  of  the  fourth  commandment.  God 
tells  us  that  we  must  keep  his  day  holy.  What 
does  he  mean  by  that? 

I  think  he  means,  first,  that  we  should  go 
to  church  and  worship  him.  Jesus,  when  he 
|  was  a  boy  in  Nazareth,  went  to  the  synagogue 
every  Sabbath  day  and  joined  in  singing 
psalms  and  listened  to  God’s  Word  read  and 
explained.  Then  when  he  grew  up  he  went 
j  to  Jerusalem  and  worshiped  God  in  the  Temple 
!  there.  What  Jesus  did  we  must  do,  for  God 
loves  to  have  his  children  come  to  his  sanc¬ 
tuary  and  sing  his  praises  and  offer  their 
prayers.  I  trust  that  you  boys  and  girls  will 

51 

ii 


52  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


never  forget  to  do  that,  and  that  you  will 
allow  nothing  to  prevent  you  from  coming  to 
church,  which  is  God’s  house,  so  that  you  may 
worship  him,  just  as  Jesus  did. 

If,  however,  we  would  worship  God  in 
church  on  the  Sabbath  as  Jesus  worshiped 
him  in  the  Temple,  we  must  be  careful  how 
we  spend  the  rest  of  the  day.  First,  we  must 
be  careful  what  we  read.  Suppose  a  friend 
invites  you  to  dinner  and  makes  special  prep¬ 
aration  for  it,  securing  everything  that  you 
like;  on  your  way  to  the  dinner  you  stop  at 
an  Italian  fruitstand  and  there  gorge  yourself 
with  bananas  and  peanuts,  so  that  you  are 
not  able  to  eat  a  bite  of  the  splendid  dinner 
which  she  has  prepared,  what  would  your 
hostess  say?  How  would  she  feel?  Well, 
every  Sunday  God  has  invited  you  to  come  to 
his  house  to  hear  what  he  has  to  say  to  you. 
But  if  before  you  come  you  read  all  the  jokes 
and  stories  in  the  Sunday  newspapers,  then 
your  hearts  and  minds  will  be  so  full  that 
you  will  have  no  room  for  anything  else. 
How  do  you  suppose  God  will  feel  about  it? 
Don’t  you  think  it  will  grieve  him  very  much? 

Then  we  must  also  be  careful  of  what  we 
do  on  Sunday,  for  it  is  God’s  day.  He  calls 
it,  “My  Sabbath,  my  Holy  Day.”  On  it,  he 
tells  us  in  the  fourth  commandment,  we  must 


i 


REMEMBER  THE  SABBATH 


53 


do  no  work,  but  rest  as  he  rested.  When 
men,  women,  and  children  forget  this  and 
spend  all  their  time  on  God’s  day  in  work, 
or  in  sports  and  pleasures  of  various  kinds, 
then  they  are  using  God’s  day  in  a  different 
way  from  that  which  he  intended.  They  are 
stealing  from  him. 

I  am  very  glad  that  President  Harding  did 
not  play  golf  on  Sunday,  and  so,  as  the  Pres¬ 
ident  of  the  United  States,  set  all  the  men  of 
our  country  a  good  example.  He  believed  in 
keeping  the  day  holy.  He  would  not  steal  from 
God. 

Have  you  ever  seen  real  Chinese  money? 
They  use  large  pennies  called  4  "cash”  and  each 
penny  has  a  hole  in  the  center  so  that  a  lot  of 
them  can  be  strung  on  a  cord.  It  takes  eleven 
of  them  to  equal  one  of  our  pennies,  so  you 
can  see  a  man  has  to  carry  a  long  string  of 
coins.  A  man  was  going  along  the  street  in 
China  one  day,  and  had  his  long  string  of 
coins  on  his  arm,  when  a  beggar  asked  him 
for  money.  He  felt  so  sorry  for  the  beggar 
that  he  took  all  the  coins  but  one  off  the  string 
and  gave  them  to  him — kept  only  one  for 
himself — and  walked  on.  He  had  gone  only 
a  little  way  when  the  same  beggar  slipped 
quietly  up  behind  him  and  stole  the  last  coin. 
Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  meaner  trick  than  that? 


54  STORY -SERMON S  FOR  JUNIORS 


When  God  made  the  days,  he  gave  us 
six  days  for  ourselves,  for  our  work  and  for 
our  pleasure — Monday,  Tuesday,  Wednesday, 
Thursday,  Friday,  and  Saturday,  all  but  one. 
Sunday  he  kept  for  himself.  Shall  we  be  like 
the  mean  beggar  and  steal  that  day  for  ourselves, 
instead  of  spending  it  in  doing  things  for  God? 
“Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy.” 


XII 


“IT  CAN’T  BE  DONE!  HERE  IT  IS!” 

It  is  said  that  after  the  American  marines 
landed  in  France  to  do  their  part  in  helping 
to  win  the  World  War,  they  so  often  heard 
the  words  “It  can’t  be  done,”  that  they  de¬ 
cided  to  show  the  world  what  the  marines 
could  do,  so  they  took  for  their  motto  “It 
can’t  be  done!  Here  it  is!” 

We  know  how  bravely  they  lived  up  to  this 
motto,  many  times  doing  what  seemed  to 
others  impossible.  So  I  want  you  boys  and 
girls  to  take  this  as  one  of  your  mottoes  in 
life:  “It  can’t  be  done!  Here  it  is!” 

You  remember  the  story  of  the  spies:  the 
Israelites  were  encamped  at  a  place  called 
Kadesh,  where  Moses  sent  out  twelve  men 
to  spy  out  the  promised  land.  When  they 
came  back  they  all  agreed  it  was  a  very  won¬ 
derful  country.  They  said  it  was  a  land  flow¬ 
ing  with  milk  and  honey.  They  meant,  of 
course,  that  it  was  very  fertile  and  very  pros¬ 
perous.  But  when  it  came  to  the  possibility 
of  conquering  the  land  they  did  not  agree. 

Ten  of  the  men  said:  “The  people  of  the 

55 


56  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


country  are  very  strong,  and  all  their  cities 
are  surrounded  by  walls.  They  are  giants, 
and  we  are  like  grasshoppers  in  their  sight. 
Then,  too,  they  have  great  fortresses.  It  is 
impossible  to  take  them.” 

But  the  other  two  men,  Joshua  and  Caleb, 
said,  “What  these  men  say  about  the  walls, 
the  fortresses,  and  the  giants  is  all  true,  but 
let  us  go  up  and  possess  the  land.” 

It  was  just  as  if  they  had  said,  “It  can’t  be 
done!  Here  it  is!”  Led  by  Joshua  and  Caleb, 
the  people  accomplished  what  the  other  spies 
said  w~as  impossible. 

There  are  many  other  stories  in  the  Bible 
— like  the  story  of  David  and  Goliath,  of 
Gideon  and  the  Midianites — which  teach  us 
the  same  lesson.  Ask  father  and  mother  to 
tell  them  to  you,  for  they  are  very  interesting. 

Not  only  in  the  Bible,  however,  but  in 
other  history,  you  will  find  stories  of  men 
who  have  done  the  seemingly  impossible.  You 
have  all  read  how  Columbus  discovered  Amer¬ 
ica.  He  wanted  to  discover  a  new  route  to 
India,  but  for  a  long,  long  time  he  could  get 
no  one  to  loan  him  money  to  hire  the  ships 
because  they  said  it  was  impossible.  So  he 
traveled  back  and  forth  between  Spain,  Italy, 
Portugal,  and  France  endeavoring  to  raise  the 
money.  At  last  Queen  Isabella  listened  to 


“IT  CAN’T  BE  DONE !” 


57 


his  plea,  and  helped  him  to  equip  the  ships. 
You  know  the  rest — Columbus  sailed  out  over 
the  ocean  and  discovered  America. 

About  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago  a  large 
number  of  people  in  this  country  said  to  Wil¬ 
liam  Lloyd  Garrison  and  his  companions,  who 
wanted  to  free  the  slaves,  “It  can’t  be  done”; 
but  these  earnest  men  and  women  did  not 
give  up.  They  kept  on  working — working  and 
praying — and  the  slaves  were  freed  in  the 
Civil  War. 

We  are  very  thankful  to  God  that,  at  last, 
we  have  prohibition  in  America,  for  alcohol 
is  one  of  the  greatest  curses  in  the  world,  one 
of  the  greatest  enemies  of  men,  women,  and 
children.  About  twenty  years  ago  a  few 
enthusiastic  men  and  women  took  for  their 
motto  “The  United  States  dry  in  1920.” 
Everybody  laughed,  even  their  friends,  and 
said,  “It  can’t  be  done!”  But  they  kept  on 
praying  and  working,  and,  “Here  it  is!” — 
America  a  saloonless  nation,  and  in  the  same 
spirit  we  are  going  to  keep  it  a  saloonless 
nation.  So  let  us  take  for  our  motto,  “It 
can’t  be  done!  Here  it  is!” 

“Somebody  said,  Tt  couldn’t  be  done/ 

But  he,  with  a  chuckle,  replied 
That  maybe  it  couldn’t,  but  he  would  be  one 
Who  wouldn’t  say  so  till  he  tried. 


58  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


“So  he  buckled  right  in,  with  a  trace  of  a  grin 
On  his  face.  If  he  worried,  he  hid  it. 

He  started  to  sing  as  he  tackled  the  thing 
That  couldn’t  be  done — and  he  did  it.”1 

But  to  carry  out  the  motto,  we  need: 

First,  perseverance,  or  what  I  like  to  call 
4 1  stick-to-it-iveness.”  “If  at  first  you  don’t 
succeed,  try,  try  again.”  You  remember  the 
story  of  Demosthenes.  He  thought  he  would 
like  to  be  a  great  orator,  but  when  he  rose  to 
speak  he  stammered  so  badly  that  the  people 
all  laughed  at  him.  “It  is  ridiculous,”  they 
said,  4 Tor  a  person  like  that  to  try  to  speak.” 
Did  Demosthenes  give  up?  No,  he  persevered. 
He  went  down  to  the  seashore  and  practiced 
and  practiced,  until  he  overcame  his  stam¬ 
mering,  and  he  became  one  of  the  greatest 
orators  of  the  world. 

Secondly,  we  must  have  faith  in  God  if  we 
would  do  the  impossible  for  him.  I  have  spoken 
of  Joshua  and  Caleb,  Gideon  and  David.  Faith 
was  the  secret  of  their  success— they  trusted  in 
God.  The  great  apostle  Faul,  who  did  so  much 
for  Jesus,  said,  “I  can  do  all  things  through 
Christ  who  strengtheneth  me.”  So  can  we. 
When  people  say,  “It  can’t  be  done,”  let  us 
say,  ''Here  it  is.” 

1  Edgar  A.  Guest,  “The  Path  Horn*.’’  Copyrighted,  1919,  by  Reilly 
&  Lee  Co.  Used  by  permission. 


XIII 


THE  DWARF  AND  THE  KNIGHT 

One  of  the  stories  told  about  the  Knights 
of  the  Round-Table  is  that  of  a  dwarf  who 
was  remarkable  for  his  small  stature  and  his 
deformity.  Perhaps  some  of  you  have  read 
about  him.  He  went  around  the  Court  of 
King  Arthur  carrying  a  drawn  sword  and 
imploring  the  knights,  one  after  another,  to 
cut  off  his  head.  No  one  would  do  it.  He  had 
never  done  anybody  any  harm,  and  while 
he  could  do  no  good,  he  was  doing  no  wrong. 
So  the  knights  thought  he  was  crazy  when  he 
wanted  them  to  cut  off  his  head  and  they 
refused  his  request. 

At  last  he  came  to  Sir  Gawain,  as  noble  and 
true  a  knight  as  ever  lived.  “Gawain,”  he 
said,  “do  you  love  me?” 

“Why,  yes,”  replied  the  knight,  “you  know 
that  I  love  you.  What  would  you  like  me 
to  do?” 

“I  would  have  you  take  this  sword  and  with 
it  cut  off  my  head,”  was  the  answer. 

Rut  Sir  Gawain  refused  at  first,  for,  like  all 
good  knights,  he  shrank  from  such  a  deed. 
But  there  was  something  so  imploring  in  the 

59 


60  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


dwarf’s  tone,  that  he  finally  consented,  and 
with  a  single  blow  he  cleft  the  head  clear 
from  the  body.  But,  wonderful  to  relate,  as 
soon  as  it  touched  the  earth,  out  of  the  little 
deformed  body  there  sprang  a  tall  and  grace¬ 
ful  knight,  full  of  strength  and  goodness,  who, 
years  before,  had  been  imprisoned  in  the 
dwarf’s  body  by  a  bad  magician.  So,  boys 
and  girls,  in  the  same  way,  there  is  imprisoned 
in  each  boy  a  good  and  true  man,  and  in  each 
girl  a  noble  and  beautiful  woman,  just  wait¬ 
ing  to  be  liberated. 

One  day  a  noted  sculptor  was  walking  along 
the  street  when  he  saw  a  piece  of  discarded 
marble,  which  had  been  thrown  out  by  another 
sculptor,  who  thought  it  good  for  nothing. 
He  had  it  taken  to  his  own  studio  and  out  of 
it  he  made  a  lovely  angel.  How  did  he  do 
it?  Why,  he  took  a  mallet  and  his  chisel  and 
he  cut  a  bit  away  here,  and  a  bit  away  there, 
and  he  filed  and  smoothed  away  all  the  rough 
little  bits  and  the  sharp  little  edges,  and  by 
and  by  there  was  the  statue  of  the  beautiful 
angel. 

Just  as  there  was  the  figure  of  a  beautiful 
knight  hidden  away  in  the  form  of  the  dwarf, 
just  as  there  was  the  figure  of  an  angel  hidden 
away  in  the  discarded  piece  of  marble,  so  there 
is  hidden  away  in  each  one  of  you  a  beau- 


THE  DWARF  AND  THE  KNIGHT  61 


t if ul  character,  but  it  must  be  drawn  out,  it 
must  be  developed.  That  is  what  father  and 
mother  and  teachers  are  trying  to  do  as  they 
teach  you  and  train  you.  Sometimes  you 
think  that  they  are  severe  in  their  discipline 
and  that  they  do  not  love  you,  when  they  do 
not  allow  you  to  do  some  things  you  want 
to  do,  and  compel  you  to  do  other  things 
that  you  do  not  want  to  do.  But,  when  you 
grow  older,  you  will  understand  that  they 
were  simply  hewing  and  chipping  away  the 
rough  places  in  your  character,  just  like  the 
sculptor  did  with  his  piece  of  marble. 

Here  the  comparison  ends,  for  the  piece 
of  marble  was  helpless  under  the  chisel  of 
the  sculptor,  but  you  can  help  your  parents 
and  teachers  as  they  chip  away  the  rough  and 
sharp  edges.  Yes,  you  can  do  some  of  it  your¬ 
selves.  You  can  be  your  own  sculptors.  The 
little  selfish  things,  the  little  mean  things, 
the  unkind  things,  the  cowardly  things,  every¬ 
thing  that  is  hiding  what  is  good  in  you,  hiding 
the  real  you — for  the  good  is  the  real  you, 
not  the  bad,  never  forget  that — so,  everything 
that  is  hiding  the  good  you  must  chip  away, 
and  Jesus  will  help  you.  Then  your  life  will 
appear  to  the  world  what  God  wants  it  to  be 
— and  I  am  sure  what  you  want  it  to  be— 
strong,  beautiful,  and  true. 


XIV 


THE  FIRST  SUNDAY  SCHOOL 

Have  you  ever  heard  the  story  of  the  first 
Bible  school?  One  of  the  very  first  schools 
that  I  know  of  was  started  by  Jehoshaphat, 
king  of  Judah5  who  lived  about  874  B.  C.  He 
was  the  fifth  king  after  David.  We  are  told 
that  King  Jehoshaphat  walked  in  the  first 
ways  of  his  father  David — that  is,  in  the  good 
ways — instead  of  worshiping  idols,  as  did  some 
of  the  kings  of  Israel.  Because  of  this  God 
was  with  him  and  blessed  him. 

But  Jehoshaphat  was  not  only  good  himself, 
he  wanted  his  people  to  be  good.  He  knew 
that  he  could  not  keep  them  true  to  God 
unless  they  understood  just  what  God’s  com¬ 
mandments  were,  and  so  he  appointed  five 
princes  to  oversee  the  work  of  instruction;  and 
with  nine  Levites  and  two  priests  they  went 
from  city  to  city  in  Judah,  reading  and  explain¬ 
ing  the  word  of  God;  that  is,  they  organized 
Bible  schools.  The  men,  women,  and  children 
came  and  listened  to  these  teachers,  just  as 
w^e  listen  to  the  teachers  in  our  Bible  schools, 
only  they  did  not  wait  for  the  Sabbath  day 

62 


THE  FIRST  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  63 


but  bad  tbeir  Bible  schools  every  day  in  the 
week.  That  is  the  story  of  the  very  first 
Bible  schools  in  the  world.  I  am  sorry  to  say 
they  did  not  last  very  long. 

After  the  schools  of  Jehoshaphat  more  than 
two  thousand  years  passed  before  the  first 
of  our  present  Sunday  schools  was  organized. 
I  wonder  if  you  know  the  name  of  the  man 
who  started  the  first  Sunday  school,  and 
where  he  lived.  His  name  was  Robert  Raikes, 
and  he  lived  in  Gloucester,  England.  I  have 
seen  the  house  in  which  he  lived  and  the  build¬ 
ing  in  whiqh  the  first  Sunday  school  was  held. 
It  seems  that  at  that  time  pin-making  was 
one  of  the  great  industries  of  Gloucester,  and 
great  numbers  of  small  children  worked  in 
the  factories  because  they  did  not  have  child- 
labor  laws  in  those  days.  The  children  had 
no  time  to  study  during  the  week,  and  on 
Sunday  they  would  meet  in  the  streets  to 
play,  and  often  to  quarrel  and  fight.  Mr. 
Raikes  felt  very  sorry  for  them,  and  so  he 
gathered  them  together,  first  of  all  in  this 
building,  and  there  taught  them  how  to  read 
and  write.  The  first  teachers,  who  were  women, 
were  paid  for  their  services. 

In  a  letter  written  in  1784  Mr.  Raikes  told 
how  the  school  was  conducted.  The  children 
were  to  come  soon  after  ten  o’clock  in  the 


64  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


morning  and  stay  until  twelve.  They  were 
to  go  home  to  lunch  and  then  return  at  one, 
and  after  reading  a  lesson,  they  went  to  church, 
walking  two  by  two.  After  church  they  re¬ 
turned  and  studied  the  Bible  again.  They 
also  learned  to  read  the  Catechism.  He  told 
how  he  tried  to  teach  them  to  be  good-natured 
to  each  other,  not  to  provoke  each  other,  to 
be  obedient  to  their  parents,  and  not  to  offend 
God  by  swearing.  At  five  o’clock  they  were 
dismissed  with  the  injunction  to  go  straight 
home.  Would  you  like  to  go  to  Sunday  school 
all  day  like  that? 

Well,  that  is  the  story  of  the  first  Sunday 
school.  Just  think  of  it!  Only  one  Sunday 
school  at  that  time,  and  now  there  are  thou¬ 
sands  of  Sunday  schools  all  over  the  world! 

The  object  of  the  Bible  school  started  by 
Jehoshaphat  and  the  object  of  the  first  Sunday 
school  started  by  Robert  Raikes  were  one 
and  the  same — to  teach  men,  women,  and 
children  to  know  the  Bible  so  that  they  might 
love  and  serve  God.  So,  boys  and  girls,  I 
want  you  to  remember  that  you  come  to  Sun¬ 
day  school  to  study  the  Bible  and  to  learn 
what  it  teaches  about  God  and  Jesus. 

In  the  book  of  the  Psalms  we  are  told  that 
God’s  Word — the  Bible — is  a  lamp  unto  our 
feet.  You  know  in  the  days  when  those  words 


THE  FIRST  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  65 


were  written,  they  did  not  have  street  lights 
as  we  do  to-day,  but  they  had  little  foot- 
lamps  which  they  tied  on  to  the  toes  of  their 
shoes  so  that  the  light  might  shine  upon  the 
path.  Then  they  could  see  any  obstacle  that 
might  be  in  the  way,  and  not  stumble  over 
it.  Knowing  that,  you  can  understand  what 
the  writer  meant  when  he  said  that  “God's 
word  is  a  lamp  unto  our  feet/5  He  meant 
that  if  you  know  the  Bible  well  enough,  some 
verse  or  truth  from  it  will  come  into  your 
mind  whenever  you  are  in  danger  or  tempta¬ 
tion,  or  whenever  you  are  in  doubt  as  to  what 
is  right.  It  will  be  like  the  foot-lamp,  it  will 
shine  upon  your  path  and  give  light,  so  that 
you  will  not  stumble  and  fall.  So  I  want 
you  not  only  to  read  and  study  the  Bible  but 
to  commit  to  memory  just  as  much  as  you 
can.  Let  us  begin  with  this  text  for  to-day, 
“Thy  word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet,  and  a  light 
unto  my  path.55 


XV 


THE  MAN  WHO  WAS  NOT  AFRAID 

TO  PRAY 

He  was  all  alone  in  a  strange  place,  far 
away  from  his  home,  from  which  he  had  been 
taken  captive  many  years  before.  Though 
he  lived  in  a  palace  and  had  good  things  to 
eat,  and  rich  clothes  to  wear,  with  servants 
to  wait  upon  him,  he  was  very  lonesome  and 
homesick.  He  was  very  busy  too,  for  the 
king  had  made  him  prime  minister  over  the 
whole  realm,  but  he  was  not  too  busy  to  pray. 
Three  times  a  day  he  went  to  his  room,  and 
opening  his  windows  in  the  direction  of  his 
old  home,  he  prayed  to  his  God. 

Some  of  the  princes  and  courtiers,  when 
they  saw  how  the  king  honored  him,  were 
very  jealous,  but  he  did  his  work  so  well  and 
was  so  faithful  and  true  that  they  could  find 
no  fault  of  which  to  complain  to  the  king. 
They  noticed,  however,  that  he  always  prayed 
three  times  a  day,  so  they  went  to  the  king 
and  asked  him  to  forbid  everyone  in  that 
country  to  pray  for  thirty  days.  If  anyone 
ywanted  anything  they  must  ask  the  king.  If 

66 


NOT  AFRAID  TO  PRAY 


67 


anyone  disobeyed,  the  king  should  have  him 
thrown  into  a  den  of  lions. 

The  king  wanted  to  please  his  princes  and 
courtiers,  so  he  consented  to  do  as  they  wished. 
But  when  the  man  about  whom  I  am  speak¬ 
ing  heard  it  he  said:  “I  am  very  sorry;  I 
like  to  do  what  the  king  commands,  but  I 
cannot  stop  praying  to  God,  even  to  please 
the  king.  I  must  pray  as  I  have  been  taught, 
even  though  the  king  does  throw  me  into  a 
den  of  lions.” 

Oh,  now  you  know  the  man’s  name!  Yes, 
Daniel!  So,  three  times  every  day,  just  as 
before,  Daniel  went  to  his  room  and  prayed 
to  his  God,  for  he  was  not  afraid ! 

But  the  wicked  princes  were  watching,  and 
they  ran  to  the  king  and  said:  “Oh,  king,  you 
commanded  that  if  any  man  should  ask  a 
petition  of  any  God  or  man  for  thirty  days, 
except  of  you,  he  should  be  cast  into  the  den 
of  lions.  Now,  here  is  this  man  Daniel;  he 
is  still  praying  three  times  a  day.  You  must 
cast  him  to  the  lions  as  you  said  you  would.” 

The  king  was  very  sorry,  for  he  loved  Daniel, 
but  he  felt  he  must  keep  his  word.  So  they 
put  Daniel  in  the  den  of  lions;  but  Daniel 
prayed  and  God  protected  him.  The  next 
morning  the  king  came  and,  looking  down  into 
the  den,  called,  “Daniel,  Daniel,  are  you  there?” 


68  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


‘‘Yes,  O  king!  God  shut  the  lions’  mouths 
so  they  did  not  hurt  me.” 

The  king  was  very  glad,  and  he  said,  “Come 
out,  Daniel,  come  quickly.  Your  God  is  the 
only  true  God,  and  I  and  my  people  will  wor¬ 
ship  him  from  this  day  on.” 

That  is  the  story  of  the  man  who  was  not 
afraid  to  pray. 

I  have  read  of  a  boy  who  went  away  to 
school.  Several  of  the  boys  slept  on  cots  in 
a  dormitory.  The  first  night  he  knelt  down 
just  as  he  did  at  home,  and  immediately  the 
other  boys  began  to  laugh  and  make  all  sorts 
of  noises.  When  that  did  not  stop  him,  they 
threw  pillows  and  slippers  and  whatever  they 
could  lay  their  hands  on.  The  boy  did  not 
budge.  While  he  was  praying  he  felt  some 
one  at  his  side.  It  was  the  smallest  boy  in 
the  room.  He  too  had  promised  his  mother 
to  say  his  prayers;  but  he  had  been  afraid 
before.  Seeing  this  boy  who  was  not  afraid, 
he  took  courage  and  knelt  down  beside  him. 
So  you  see  the  boy  who  was  not  afraid  to 
pray  not  only  did  his  duty  but  also  helped 
the  younger  lad  keep  his  promise.  More  than 
that,  when  the  other  boys  saw  that  he  was 
not  afraid  they  admired  him  for  his  pluck,  and 
he  became  a  leader  among  them.  Boys  and 
girls,  never  be  afraid  to  pray. 


XVI 


r  THE  MAN  WITH  A  GEOIJCH 

Many  years  ago  there  lived  a  king  in  Samaria 
by  the  name  of  Ahab.  One  day,  after  looking 
around  his  ivory-walled  palace — for  he  was 
very  proud  of  all  his  fine  possessions — he  went 
up  on  the  palace  roof  and  looked  toward  the 
east  and  toward  the  west.  “All  this  is  mine,” 
he  said.  Then  a  frown  crossed  his  face,  as 
he  happened  to  look  down  at  a  vineyard  which 
joined  his  palace  grounds,  for  this  alone  was 
not  his.  “If  I  only  owned  that  vineyard,” 
he  said,  “I  should  have  a  perfect  garden.” 

So  the  king  sent  at  once  for  Naboth,  the 
owner  of  the  vineyard,  and  said,  “Give  me 
your  vineyard,  because  it  is  near  my  house 
and  I  want  to  make  a  beautiful  garden.  In 
place  of  it,  I  will  give  you  a  far  larger  vineyard 
somewhere  else,  or,  if  you  would  prefer,  I 
will  give  you  the  worth  of  the  vineyard  in 
money.”  But  Naboth,  while  thanking  the 
king  for  his  kind  offer,  refused  to  accept  it. 
“Because,”  said  he,  “my  father  gave  me  this 
vineyard.  It  has  been  in  our  family  for  a 

69 


70  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


great  many  generations,  and  I  cannot  give  it 
up.”  The  king  was  so  angry,  so  disappointed, 
that  he  went  into  his  palace  and  throwing 
himself  on  his  couch,  turned  away  his  face 
and  would  eat  nothing  at  all.  In  other  words, 
he  sulked.  Because  he  could  not  have  his 
own  way  he  acted  like  a  baby,  king  though 
he  was,  and  gave  way  to  his  temper.  To-day 
we  would  say  that  he  had  a  “grouch.” 

Now,  of  course,  you  boys  and  girls  do  not 
act  like  that,  do  you?  But,  perhaps,  you  may 
have  known  some  one  wdio  did.  Some  boys, 
you  know,  if  they  cannot  be  pitchers  or  catchers 
on  the  baseball  team,  won’t  play  at  all.  They 
sulk,  they  have  a  grouch.  Sometimes  a  girl, 
if  she  cannot  play  just  as  she  wishes,  likewise 
turns  away  and  frets  and  sulks.  She  has  a 
grouch  too. 

What  is  the  reason  that  boys  and  girls  and 
men  and  women  have  grouches?  This  rich 
king,  Ahab,  of  whom  we  are  speaking,  had  a 
grouch  because  he  was  selfish.  He  was  not 
satisfied  with  his  own  great  possessions.  He 
coveted  the  one  field,  the  one  vineyard  of  his 
neighbor,  who,  compared  with  him,  was  a 
poor  man.  So,  boys  and  girls,  if  you  think 
about  it,  you  will  always  find  that  those  who 
have  grouches  are  selfish.  They  are  always 
thinking  about  their  own  happiness,  and  what 


THE  MAN  WITH  A  GROUCH 


71 


they  can  get  for  themselves;  and  if  they  do  not 
succeed  in  their  efforts,  then  they  sulk.  The 
best  cure  for  a  grouch,  then,  is  to  forget  your¬ 
self  and  try  to  make  some  one  happy.  Suppose 
you  begin  to-morrow  morning  when  you  go  to 
school,  and  instead  of  being  selfish,  try  to  see 
how  you  can  help  your  classmates.  Give  up 
something  for  them.  If  you  do  that,  you  will 
not  have  a  grouch  all  day.  Rut  why  wait 
until  to-morrow?  Begin  to-day,  this  very  day, 
just  as  soon  as  you  reach  home.  Lend  brother 
that  interesting  book,  or  let  sister  have  your 
picture  puzzle. 

I  heard  of  a  young  woman  of  whom  it  was 
said:  “She  always  made  home  happy/5  You 
can  never  say  that  about  a  grouch.  I  do  not 
know  of  anything  that  can  be  said  more  to 
the  praise  of  any  man  or  woman,  boy  or  girl, 
than — “He  or  she  made  home  happy/5 

So,  after  to-day’s  Junior  sermon,  we  are 
going  to  try  to  be  happy  wherever  we  are,  so 
that  people  will  not  say,  “Oh,  my!  I  wish  that 
boy  had  remained  at  home,  I  wish  that  child 
would  not  come  here  any  more,”  but  instead, 
will  say,  “I  am  so  glad  he  came  to-day,  because 
he  always  makes  everybody  so  happy.  It  is 
a  good  thing  just  to  have  him  around.” 

Do  you  know  how  you  can  do  it?  Why, 
just  by  asking  Jesus  to  help  you  to  be  like 


72  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


himself,  because,  you  know,  it  is  said  of  him, 
6 ‘Even  Christ  pleased  not  himself.”  Then  no 
longer  will  you  think  of  yourselves,  and  fret 
and  sulk,  and  have  a  “grouch”  if  you  cannot 
have  your  own  way,  but  you  will  be  unselfish 
in  everything,  just  as  Jesus  was. 


XVII 


CHRIST  OF  THE  ANDES 

(Objects:  One  Hundred  Pennies  and 
Picture  of  “Christ  of  the  Andes”) 

After  the  Great  World  War  a  conference 
was  held  in  Washington  to  see  if  the  large 
nations  of  the  world  could  not  agree  to  limit 
the  number  of  soldiers  and  sailors,  warships, 
aeroplanes,  guns,  and  other  implements  of 
war  that  each  should  have.  They  did  not  wish 
to  abolish  armies  and  navies  altogether,  only 
to  reduce  their  numbers.  They  felt  that  if 
the  nations  of  the  earth  continued  to  make 
more  and  more  guns  and  other  machinery  of 
war,  the  day  would  come  when  there  would 
be  another  great  war  even  more  terrible  than 
the  last.  While  America  did  her  duty  in  the 
World  War,  none  of  us  want  another  war. 

Why?  First,  because  war  is  growing  more 
and  more  terrible.  Not  only  do  the  soldiers 
use  guns  and  swords — and  the  guns  are  larger 
and  more  powerful  than  ever  before — but  they 
have  death-dealing  bombs  which  are  dropped 
from  aeroplanes,  and  terrible  poisonous  gases 
which  cause  those  who  Inhale  them  to  cough 

78 


74  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


and  choke  to  death  in  terrible  suffering.  In 
wars  of  by-gone  days  only  the  soldiers  were 
killed,  but  in  the  last  war  the  Germans  dropped 
bombs  on  unprotected  villages  and  cities,  and 
killed  many  men,  women,  and  children.  They 
tell  us  that  the  next  war  will  be  even  more 
terrible. 

Then  war  is  growing  more  and  more 
expensive,  so  that  no  nation  will  be  able  to 
pay.  When  the  World  War  drew  to  a  close 
it  was  costing  more  in  one  day  than  the  whole 
Revolutionary  War  of  the  United  States  cost 
in  eight  years. 

I  have  here  one  dollar  in  pennies.  Let  us 
divide  them  into  two  piles — ninety-three  pen¬ 
nies  in  one  and  seven  in  the  other.  Out  of 
every  dollar  your  father  pays  in  taxes  to  this 
government  ninety-three  pennies  go  for  wars 
— past,  present,  and  future — and  only  seven 
for  educational,  scientific,  and  other  purposes. 
The  other  nations  are  much  poorer  than  we, 
and  their  war  burdens  much  heavier. 

But  a  still  more  important  reason  why  we 
do  not  want  another  war  is  that  Jesus  does 
not  want  it.  You  remember  that  when  Jesus 
was  born  the  angels  sang  ‘"Peace  on  earth, 
good  will  toward  men.”  War  brings  jealousy, 
hatred,  cruelty,  and  untold  suffering.  Jesus 
wants  the  different  countries  to  love  each 


CHRIST  OF  THE  ANDES 


75 


other,  and  to  help  one  another — not  to  quarrel, 
fight,  and  kill  each  other. 

So,  boys  and  girls,  when  you  say  your  prayers, 
do  not  forget  to  ask  God  that  the  nations, 
when  they  differ  with  each  other,  may  be 
willing  to  send  their  representatives  to  talk 
it  over  instead  of  going  to  war.  The  United 
States  and  Canada  do  that,  also  the  Republics 
of  Argentine  and  Chile.  For  many  years 
Argentine  and  Chile  were  always  quarreling, 
and  sometimes  their  quarrels  led  to  war  and 
bloodshed.  In  the  year  1900  they  were  on 
the  brink  of  war,  when  they  agreed  to 
arbitrate,  and  asked  the  King  of  England  to 
decide  their  dispute  for  them.  On  Easter 
Sunday  that  same  year,  good  Bishop  Benevente, 
of  Argentina,  made  an  earnest  appeal  for  a 
statue  of  Christ  to  be  erected  on  the  frontier 
to  celebrate  the  Victory  of  Peace. 

So  they  melted  some  of  their  cannon  and 
made  a  colossal  bronze  statue  of  Christ — 
twenty-six  feet  high,  standing  on  a  granite 
hemisphere  symbolizing  the  world.  This  they 
erected  on  the  Andean  Peak,  right  on  the 
boundary  line,  fourteen  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea.  One  hand  holding  the  cross,  the  other 
lifted  toward  heaven,  the  Christ  of  the  Andes 
stands  between  the  two  countries,  in  the  atti¬ 
tude  of  blessing  men  as  they  live  below  him 


76  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


in  peace.  The  inscription  on  the  pedestal 
reads,  “Sooner  shall  mountains  crumble  to 
dust  than  Argentines  and  Chileans  break  the 
peace,  which  at  the  feet  of  Christ,  the  Redeemer, 
they  have  sworn  to  keep.” 

Pray,  boys  and  girls,  that  what  Argentine 
and  Chile  have  done  under  the  influence  of 
the  “Christ  of  the  Andes”  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth  will  do. 


XVIII 


TAKE  A  LITTLE  HONEY  WITH  YOU 

Some  years  ago,  in  one  of  our  religious  papers, 
I  read  “A  Sermon  to  Juniors/’  While  I  have 
forgotten  the  name  of  the  writer  and  the 
sermon  itself,  I  have  not  forgotten,  and  never 
will  forget,  the  text.  I  am  going  to  talk  to 
you  about  it  this  morning,  so  that  you  may 
remember  it  too.  The  text  was  “Take  a 
little  honey  with  you.” 

There  was  a  famine  in  the  land  of  Canaan, 
so  Jacob  sent  his  sons  down  into  Egypt  to 
buy  food.  Who  do  you  suppose  was  prime 
minister  of  Egypt  at  that  time?  Joseph,  their 
long-lost  brother,  whom  they  had  sold  into 
slavery  some  years  before,  but  had  never 
since  heard  of.  They  did  not  recognize  Joseph, 
but  he  recognized  them.  Desiring  to  teach 
his  brothers  a  lesson  for  their  past  cruelty, 
he  charged  them  with  being  spies,  and  to 
prove  that  they  were  not,  he  compelled  them 
to  leave  one  of  their  number,  Simeon,  in  Egypt 
as  a  hostage,  until  they  could  bring  their 
younger  brother,  Benjamin. 

Having  given  their  father,  Jacob,  the  mes- 

77 


78  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


sage,  they  were  now  preparing  to  return  to 
Egypt.  Jacob,  being  anxious  to  win  the 
favor  of  the  prime  minister — for  he  did  not 
know  it  was  Joseph — told  his  sons  to  take 
some  presents  to  him,  spices,  myrrh,  nuts, 
almonds,  and  a  little  honey,  for  he  thought 
that  would  please  him.  I  am  quite  sure  it 
did  too,  because  most  people  are  fond  of  sweet 
things.  That  is  one  reason  we  give  boxes 
of  candy  as  presents. 

In  the  book  of  Proverbs  we  are  told  that 
pleasant  words  are  like  honey.  Sometimes  we 
call  them  4 'honeyed  words. 5 5  So  it  seemed  to 
me  it  would  be  a  good  thing  if  we  all  would 
take  a  little  of  that  kind  of  honey  with  us. 

I  was  returning  from  New  York  the  other 
day  and  was  very  tired;  but  all  the  seats  in 
the  train  were  taken,  with  the  exception  of 
one  which  was  supposed  to  hold  four  persons. 
In  that  seat  just  two  men  were  sitting  with 
their  knees  outspread,  and  their  papers  held 
out  before  them,  utterly  oblivious  of  the  fact 
that  others  were  standing.  So  I  touched  one 
of  the  men  on  the  shoulder,  and  said  very 
politely,  “Won’t  you  move  over  a  little, 
please?”  He  grunted,  but  paid  no  other  atten¬ 
tion  to  my  request.  I  was  tempted  to  speak 
sharply  to  him  and  tell  him  what  I  thought 
of  his  selfishness,  when  there  flashed  into  my 


TAKE  A  LITTLE  HONEY 


79 


mind  the  words,  “Take  a  little  honey  with 
you.”  So  I  repeated  my  request  as  politely 
as  possible,  but  just  a  little  louder,  and  this 
time  the  man  moved,  though  rather  ungra¬ 
ciously,  it  is  true.  You  see,  boys  and  girls, 
it  makes  all  the  difference  in  the  world  how 
you  ask  for  things — whether  it  is  of  the  street¬ 
car  conductor,  the  clerk  in  the  store,  or  the 
telephone  operator.  The  motto,  “The  voice 
with  a  smile  wins,”  is  only  another  way  of 
saying,  “Take  a  little  honey  with  you.”  It  is 
a  good  thing,  therefore,  to  take  a  little  honey 
wdth  you  wherever  you  go. 

After  the  Revolutionary  War  George  Wash¬ 
ington  was  making  a  long  journey  in  his  car¬ 
riage,  for  they  had  no  automobiles  in  those 
days.  He  was  accompanied  by  several  gentle¬ 
men  in  a  carriage  of  their  own.  Late  one  after¬ 
noon,  when  they  were  anxious  to  reach  the 
next  town  before  darkness  came  on,  they 
found  the  road  blocked  by  a  large  wagon 
drawn  by  four  horses  going  very  slowly.  Wish¬ 
ing  to  pass,  a  gentleman  in  the  first  carriage 
called  out  to  the  teamster,  and,  in  an  over¬ 
bearing  manner,  ordered  him  to  turn  out.  The 
man  became  very  angry  and  refused  to  budge. 
George  Washington,  seeing  the  trouble,  spoke 
very  courteously  to  the  driver,  explained  why 
they  were  in  a  hurry,  and  asked  him  to  allow 


80  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


them  to  pass.  In  a  moment,  the  man  had 
turned  aside,  and  they  were  on  their  way. 
You  see,  George  Washington  “took  a  little 
honey  with  him.” 

Put  a  little  honey  in  your  suitcase  when  you 
go  on  your  vacation  this  summer,  for  there 
will  be  rainy  days  when  everybody  seems  cross, 
and  days  when  the  fish  won’t  bite,  and  lots 
of  other  occasions  when  you  will  be  tempted 
to  speak  sharply.  But,  above  all,  don’t  for¬ 
get  to  have  a  little  honey  on  the  table  every 
day  at  home,  for  you  must  be  as  sweet  with 
your  own  folk  as  you  are  with  friends  and 
strangers.  Then  if  anyone  finds  fault  and 
says,  “The  bread  is  poor,  the  meat  is  tough, 
or  the  cake  is  dry,”  just  say  with  a  smile, 
“Please  pass  the  honey.” 


PART  TWO 


SERIAL  STORIES 


GAMES 


“And  the  streets  of  the  city  shall  be  full  of  boys 
and  girls  playing  in  the  streets  thereof.” — Zechariah. 


\ 


V 


XIX 


GOLF 

“The  Battle  of  Waterloo  was  won  on  the 
cricket-fields  of  England,”  said  the  Duke  of 
Wellington.  The  famous  general  meant  that 
the  men  who  won  the  battle  received  their 
training  on  the  cricket-field.  Yes,  the  games 
and  the  recreations  of  a  nation  have  a  great 
influence  upon  that  nation;  so  I  am  going  to 
talk  with  you  boys  and  girls  for  three  Sundays 
about  the  three  great  out-door  games  in  this 
country,  namely,  golf,  baseball  and  football. 

What  is  this  little  white  ball  I  hold  in  my 
hand?  A  golf  ball,  of  course.  Everyone  knows 
a  golf  ball.  They  tell  us  that  about  three 
million  men  and  women  play  in  our  country. 
Next  to  baseball  it  is  our  most  popular  game. 
In  fact,  I  think  more  grown  people  play  be¬ 
cause  so  many  simply  watch  baseball  and  do 
not  play  it  themselves. 

If  you  are  to  play  golf,  there  are  some  things 
you  must  learn. 

First.  Keep  your  eye  on  the  ball.  This  is 
the  very  first  thing  your  teacher  tells  you.  It 
seems  so  easy  to  hit  this  little  white  ball,  but, 
unless  you  keep  your  eye  on  it,  you  will  find 

85 


86  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


that  it  is  not  so  easy  as  it  seems.  Instead  of 
going  straight  forward  as  you  wish,  it  will 
shoot  off  to  the  right  or  to  the  left,  or  you  will 
miss  it  altogether,  so  you  must  keep  your  eye 
on  it  all  the  time. 

Not  only  must  you  keep  your  eye  on  it,  but 
you  must  keep  your  mind  upon  it  also.  You 
know  it  is  very  easy  to  look  at  a  thing  and  be 
thinking  of  something  else.  Some  of  you  boys 
have  been  looking  at  me  this  morning,  but 
your  thoughts  were  elsewhere.  Perhaps  you 
were  thinking  of  the  coaster- wagon  that  Henry 
has,  and  the  new  motor  wheel  which  he  has 
attached  to  it,  or  perhaps  the  girls  have  been 
thinking  of  Mary’s  new  doll.  So,  in  playing 
golf,  you  may  be  looking  at  the  ball  and  think¬ 
ing  of  something  else.  You  may  be  thinking 
what  your  friends  will  say  when  they  see  how 
straight  the  ball  goes.  The  result  is  one  and 
the  same.  Therefore  keep  both  eye  and  mind 
on  the  ball.  This  is  what  we  call  “concentra¬ 
tion.”  A  long  word,  isn’t  it?  But  now  you 
know  what  it  means.  You  must  learn  to  con¬ 
centrate  if  you  would  succeed  in  anything. 
Paul  did  it  when  he  said,  “This  one  thing  I  do.” 

Secondly.  Don’t  look  up  until  the  stroke 
is  finished,  but  “follow  through.”  This  was 
the  second  thing  my  friends  told  me.  Some 
players  are  very  anxious  to  see  where  the  ball 


GOLF 


87 


is  going.  They  look  up  before  the  stroke  is 
finished  and  spoil  it.  So  “Follow  through”  is 
a  good  motto  for  them  and  for  us  all.  So  many 
of  us  start  to  do  something  and  do  not  finish. 
We  do  not  folloiu  through. 

When  we  return  after  our  vacations  we  are 
very  enthusiastic,  and  we  promise  father  and 
mother  that  we  will  study  harder  than  we 
did  last  year.  We  mean  it  too,  and  our  report 
card  for  October  is  fine.  But  the  November 
one  is  not  quite  so  good,  and  by  December 
our  reports  are  way  down  where  they  were 
before.  We  begin  well,  but  we  do  not  continue, 
we  do  not  follow  through . 

Thirdly.  To  play  good  golf  you  must  have 
a  picture  in  your  mind  of  where  you  want 
the  ball  to  go.  Especially  is  this  true,  when 
you  are  playing  over  what  golfers  call  a 
“hazard,”  such  as  a  stone  wall,  a  tree,  or  a 
little  lake,  for  sometimes  you  find  these  hazards 
in  the  course.  So  many  times  I  have  heard  a 
player  say,  as  he  prepared  to  drive  the  ball 
across  the  lake,  “Watch  me  put  it  in  the  lake.” 
And  he  did.  He  tries  again  and  again  with 
the  same  result.  Another  player  will  say: 
“Watch  me  put  it  over.  Do  you  see  that  green 
yonder?  That’s  where  I’m  going  to  put  it.” 
And  almost  invariably  he  does.  So,  if  you 
would  succeed  in  golf,  you  must  have  a  pic- 


88  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS  x 

ture  in  your  mind  of  where  you  want  the  ball 
to  go,  and  play  as  you  have  been  taught. 

In  the  same  way,  boys  and  girls,  you  must 
have  a  picture  in  your  mind  of  what  you  want 
to  do  and  be.  In  other  words,  you  must  have 
an  ideal  toward  which  you  are  always  moving- 
So  many  men  and  women  just  drift  through 
life,  with  no  ideals,  no  standards,  and,  of 
course,  they  fail.  Do  not  be  like  them,  but 
have  a  picture  in  your  mind  of  what  you 
want  to  be  and  strive  to  reach  it. 

I  know  a  man  who,  when  he  was  a  little 
boy,  worked  in  the  mines  of  England.  He 
was  one  of  the  door-boys.  The  mines  were  in 
sections,  divided  by  doors,  and  when  the  little 
donkey  came  along  with  his  wagon-load  of 
coal  these  boys  had  to  swung  the  doors  open 
for  him.  Well,  this  little  boy  used  to  sit  and 
read  his  Testament  by  the  light  of  the  tiny 
lamp  on  his  cap,  and  as  he  read  he  had  in  his 
mind  a  picture  of  himself  as  a  minister,  preach¬ 
ing  the  gospel  to  many  people.  He  worked 
hard  and  earned  money  to  go  to  school.  Then 
he  worked  his  way  through  college,  and  now 
he  is  a  minister  of  a  large  city  church  where 
he  has  realized  the  picture  he  made  of  himself 
when  he  was  a  little  boy.  He  succeeded  be¬ 
cause,  like  the  golfer,  he  had  an  ideal  in  mind 
and  worked  toward  it. 


XX 


BASEBALL 

Baseball!  Baseball!  Baseball!  All  over 
the  country  each  summer,  men  and  women, 
and  even  boys  and  girls,  talk  about  baseball 
and  wonder  who  will  win  the  various  cham¬ 
pionships.  Yes.  baseball  is  a  very  popular 
game  indeed,  and  you  are  all  so  familiar  with 
it  that  I  need  not  describe  it. 

Notice  first  that  there  are  certain  rules  in 
baseball  as  in  other  games.  The  pitcher  must 
pitch  the  ball  right  over  the  homeplate,  no 
higher  than  the  batter’s  shoulder  and  no  lower 
than  his  knees.  Then  if  the  batter  does  not 
hit  the  ball  for  a  run,  or  if  he  hits  at  it  and 
misses  it,  it  is  called  a  strike.  If  the  pitcher 
pitches  the  ball  too  high  or  too  low,  it  is  called 
a  ball,  and  four  balls  send  the  batter  to  first 
base.  So  there  are  rules  for  every  part  of 
the  game,  and  to  play  the  game  successfully, 
you  must  know  the  rules. 

See,  the  player  out  in  the  field  yonder  is 
catching  the  ball.  Will  he  get  it?  Yes,  he 
caught  it,  but  he  did  not  hold  it  firmly — it 
slipped  through  his  fingers.  He  made  an 

8Q 


90  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


error,  and  because  of  that  error  the  batter 
has  won  his  base,  and  perhaps  made  a  home 
run.  The  error  is  marked  down  on  the  score 
card  against  the  fielder,  and  it  may  mean  the 
losing  of  the  game  for  his  side.  So  in  the 
game  of  life  be  very  careful  about  any  errors. 
They  always  count  against  you,  and  they  will 
affect  not  only  yourself  but  others. 

Another  batter  has  come  up.  Instead  of 
swinging  his  bat  he  is  just  holding  it  up  to 
stop  the  ball.  Why  is  he  doing  that?  He  is 
making  what  is  known  as  a  “bunt,”  or  a  “sac¬ 
rifice  hit.”  The  ball  falls  right  near  him,  so 
he  is  put  out  very  easily,  but  the  men  on  the 
base  advance,  and  perhaps  make  a  run.  I  am 
sure  that  he  would  have  liked  to  have  made 
a  run  himself,  but  he  has  sacrificed  himself  for 
the  good  of  the  team.  He  made  a  “sacrifice 
hit.” 

So,  boys  and  girls,  as  followers  of  Jesus, 
you  must  not  think  only  of  your  own  glory, 
but  you  must  be  willing  to  make  “sacrifice 
hits”  for  others.  Jesus  did  it  all  the  time. 
For  example,  he  was  very  tired  and  went  away 
into  a  quiet  place  to  rest,  but  the  people  came 
crowding  unto  him,  so  he  gave  up  his  rest 
and  first  taught  them  and  then  fed  them. 
That  was  making  a  “sacrifice  hit.”  But  he 
made  the  greatest  “sacrifice  hit”  of  all  when 


BASEBALL 


91 


lie  gave  up  his  life,  when  he  died  on  the  cross, 
so  that  men  and  women  and  children  every¬ 
where,  all  over  the  world,  might  know  that 
God  loves  them,  and  that  they  must  love  him 
in  return.  It  is  this  love  that  we  commem¬ 
orate  on  Good  Friday  and  at  every  communion 


service. 


XXI 


FOOTBALL 

After  baseball  comes  football.  It  is  a  splen¬ 
did  game  for  the  fall  and  early  winter  months, 
before  the  snow  comes,  as  it  provides  very 
vigorous  out-of-door  exercise.  As  most  people 
are  not  so  familiar  with  it  as  they  are  with 
baseball,  I  will  give  you  a  brief  description. 

In  a  regular  game  there  are  eleven  players 
on  each  side,  and  at  each  end  of  the  field  is 
a  goal  made  of  upright  posts  supporting  a 
cross-bar.  The  object  is  to  advance  the  ball 
beyond  the  goal  at  the  rear  end  of  the  oppo¬ 
nents5  half  of  the  field — and  you  may  do  it 
by  kicking  the  ball  or  carrying  it.  The  side 
that  does  this  the  greatest  number  of  times 
wins  the  game. 

First  there  must  be  team  work  to  play  good 
football;  that  is,  all  the  players  must  cooperate 
with  each  other.  They  must  play  together. 
You’ll  understand  what  I  mean  when  you 
see  your  next  game  of  football.  The  two 
opposing  teams  will  line  up  against  each  other. 
One  side  has  the  ball  and  is  endeavoring  to 
advance  with  it  down  the  field.  See  how  in- 

92 


FOOTBALL 


08 


tense  they  are  as  they  crouch,  waiting  for  the 
signal  to  go.  Then  the  captain  calls  out  cer¬ 
tain  numbers,  one  after  the  other.  We  do 
not  understand  what  the  numbers  mean,  but 
the  players  who  are  in  the  secret,  know  from 
the  numbers  that  are  called  which  player  will 
take  the  ball  and  in  what  direction  he  is  to 
run,  and  how  the  rest  of  his  team-mates  will 
help  him. 

Suppose  the  player  selected  by  the  captain 
to  run  with  the  ball  should  say  to  himself, 
“I  will  not  obey  the  captain’s  commands,  but 
I  will  run  in  some  other  direction,  and  per¬ 
haps  I'll  make  a  touch-down.”  What  do  you 
suppose  would  happen?  Why,  he  would  fail 
utterly.  You  know  some  players  are  like  that 
— always  trying  to  show  off  before  the  on¬ 
lookers,  so  that  they  may  be  praised.  We 
call  that  making  a  4 ‘grand-stand  play.”  Such 
playing  is  selfish  and  it  ruins  the  game.  There 
must  be  cooperation — that  is,  you  must  play 
together  and  help  one  another  to  make  the 
goals — even  though  it  means  that  you  will 
not  get  any  glory  for  yourself.  You  must  be 
willing  to  sacrifice  for  the  good  of  the  team, 
for  the  good  of  others,  just  as  the  baseball 
player  sacrifices  when  he  makes  a  “sacrifice 
hit.” 

Secondly,  football  is  a  very  strenuous  game, 


94  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


and  unless  the  players  keep  well  they  cannot 
stand  the  strain.  They  must  not  smoke,  for 
smoking  injures  their  breathing.  They  must  be 
careful  of  what  they  eat,  and  go  to  bed  at 
regular,  early  hours,  and  in  every  way  try  to 
keep  well  and  strong.  I  have  seen  players 
dismissed  from  the  college  team  because  they 
smoked  cigarettes  or  stayed  out  late  at  night, 
which  things  break  down  their  health.  So  in 
the  game  of  life  you  must  try  to  keep  your 
bodies  well  and  strong,  ready  to  do  the  work 
God  has  for  you  to  do.  You  must  follow  the 
advice  of  the  Christian  athlete,  the  apostle 
Paul,  who  said,  “Keep  your  body  under. 55 
That  means  you  must  keep  your  temper,  exer¬ 
cise  self-control  over  your  desires,  and  prac¬ 
tice  self-denial.  YTou  will  find  it  hard  some¬ 
times,  but  with  Jesus5  help  you  can  do  it. 

Thirdly,  you  must  always  play  the  game, 
whether  it  be  football  or  any  other  game. 
That  means  two  things— you  must  play  fair 
and  play  to  win.  Some  players,  when  they 
see  the  other  side  is  stronger,  either  cheat  or 
play  in  a  half-hearted  manner.  We  call  the 
latter  “quitters.5 5  How  we  do  admire  those 
who  never  give  up,  but  do  their  best  to  the 
end! 

The  late  President  Roosevelt,  one  of  the 
greatest  Presidents  the  United  States  ever  had, 


FOOTBALL 


95 


in  an  address  to  boys  said,  “In  life,  as  in  a 
football  game,  the  principle  to  follow  is  "Hit 
the  line  hard.  Don’t  foul  and  don’t  shirk,  but 
hit  the  line  hard.’  ”  By  “hitting  the  line  hard” 
President  Roosevelt  meant  that  you  must 
play  with  all  your  might,  doing  your  very 
best.  He  practised  what  he  preached — he 
always  played  and  worked  with  all  his  might, 
and  that  is  one  of  the  reasons  he  was  such  a 
great  man. 

Play  the  game,  play  fair,  play  to  win. 


SUMMER  EXPERIENCES1 


“Shout  Ho! 

Whoop  and  Holloa! 

Summer  is  here — To  the  country  we  go. 

School  done, 

Freedom  and  fun — 

Hard  work  is  over,  and  play  is  begun!” 

— Edna  Kingsley  Wallace . 


1  “Song  of  Summer,”  from  Feelings  and  Things,  by  Edna  Kingsley 
Wallace.  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co.  publishers. 


XXII 


CONTRARY  WINDS 

Those  of  you  who  have  traveled  in  New 
Hampshire  know  that  there  are  several  lakes 
there,  some  small  and  some  large.  This  last 
summer  we  spent  our  vacation  on  one  of  these 
lakes  which  was  about  five  miles  long  and 
three  miles  wide.  There  were  several  islands 
in  the  lake  and  high  mountains  in  the  near 
distance.  What  a  beautiful  picture  they  pre¬ 
sented  every  night  at  sunset,  outlined  against 
the  western  sky  with  its  violet  and  rose  and 
golden  tints!  Such  good  times  we  had  too, 
swimming,  fishing,  and  boating! 

One  day  two  of  us  rowed  to  a  neighboring 
town  about  three  miles  away.  The  sun  was 
shining  and  there  was  little  or  no  breeze,  so 
that  the  lake  was  as  smooth  as  glass,  and  it 
was  very  easy  rowing.  While  we  were  in  town 
we  noticed  that  quite  a  breeze  had  sprung  up, 
and  by  the  time  that  we  had  rowed  up  the 
little  river  and  into  the  lake,  it  was  blowing 
quite  a  gale,  and,  as  so  frequently  happens  in 
these  little  lakes,  the  waves  rose  very  high. 
Unfortunately,  the  wind  was  blowing  right  in 

99 


100  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


our  faces,  so  that  rowing  now  became  very 
difficult.  It  seemed  sometimes,  even  when 
both  of  us  rowed,  that  we  made  absolutely  no 
progress,  and  if  we  stopped  rowing,  the  waves 
took  us  right  back  again. 

I  thought  of  that  little  scene  in  the  life  of 
the  disciples  when  Jesus,  after  he  had  fed  the 
five  thousand,  sent  his  disciples  across  the  sea 
in  a  boat,  while  he  went  to  the  mountain  to 
pray.  We  read  that  they  were  rowing  for 
hours,  but  they  could  make  no  headway  be¬ 
cause  the  wind  was  contrary.  So  we  found 
that  “the  wind  was  contrary,”  but  after  awhile 
we  managed  to  reach  camp,  very  late,  very 
tired,  and  very  hungry. 

“And  the  wind  was  contrary.”  That  is  my 
text,  boys  and  girls,  for  you  this  morning. 
Life  will  not  be  all  smooth  sailing.  There  will 
be  difficulties  and  hardships.  The  wind  will 
sometimes  be  contrary,  but  you  will  not  give 
up.  You  will  keep  on  struggling  and  do  your 
best,  just  as  Lincoln  did  when  he  was  a  boy. 
He  had  no  opportunities  for  education  as  we 
have  to-day.  He  tells  us  that  he  only  had 
about  one  year’s  schooling  in  all  his  life.  Then, 
too,  there  were  very  few  books  and  those  were 
very  expensive.  Sometimes  he  would  work 
many  days  just  to  earn  the  money  to  purchase 
one,  and  then  walk  miles  to  get  it.  After  he 


CONTRARY  WINDS 


101 


reached  home,  he  would  read  by  the  light  of 
the  fire.  We  would  say  that  the  4 4 wind  was 
contrary”  for  him,  but  he  persevered  and  won 
out  at  last. 

So  it  was  with  President  Garfield,  and  so 
it  has  been  with  many  of  the  great  men  of 
the  past — statesmen,  scientists,  artists,  inven¬ 
tors,  and  discoverers.  In  spite  of  the  “con¬ 
trary  winds”  they  won  success.  Will  you  win 
success  by  following  their  example? 

Last  of  all,  when  the  disciples  met  the  “con¬ 
trary  winds”  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  Jesus  came 
to  them  walking  on  the  sea  and  helped  them. 
So  he  will  help  you,  when  you  experience  the 
“contrary  winds,”  if  you  only  ask  him. 


XXIII 


ROCKS 

Last  summer,  two  weeks  before  our  vacation 
ended,  a  friend  and  I  purchased  a  motor  canoe. 
What  good  times  we  had  learning  how  to  run 
it,  and  then  how  proud  we  were  when  we 
went  chugging  along  down  the  lake! 

After  a  week  had  passed  we  found  it  neces¬ 
sary  to  go  to  town  to  replenish  our  gasoline. 
So  we  sailed  to  the  end  of  the  lake  and  down 
through  a  little  river  to  the  landing  stage  of 
the  nearest  village. 

As  the  young  man  was  filling  our  gasoline  tank 
he  said,  “Well,  have  you  struck  a  rock  yet?” 

“No,”  we  replied.  “Why?” 

“Well,  don’t  worry,”  he  said,  “you  will. 
Everyone  who  runs  a  motor  boat  on  this  lake 
strikes  a  rock  sooner  or  later.” 

We  laughed  and  said  nothing,  but  to  our¬ 
selves  we  said,  “We  are  going  to  be  the  excep¬ 
tion,  we  are  not  going  to  strike  a  rock.”  So 
I  took  the  helm  and  my  friend  started  the 
engine,  and  we  went  very  carefully  through  the 
little  river  because  the  channel  was  very 
narrow. 

When  we  entered  the  lake  we  did  not  steer 

102 


ROCKS 


103 


at  once  for  our  camp,  but  kept  straight  out 
into  the  lake,  as  a  ledge  of  rocks  ran  out  from 
the  shore  where  the  river  enters  the  lake,  and 
we  had  been  told  that  we  must  be  very  care¬ 
ful  to  go  out  around  them.  When  we  were 
out,  as  we  thought,  far  enough,  I  swung  the 
helm  over  and  steered  for  home,  when,  sud¬ 
denly,  there  was  a  loud  grating  noise — we  had 
struck  a  rock!  We  stopped,  examined  the 
boat,  and  were  very  glad  to  find  that  there 
seemed  to  be  no  great  damage  done.  When 
we  started  the  boat,  however,  it  insisted  on 
going  backward  instead  of  forward.  But  after 
a  little  delay,  we  righted  matters  and  reached 
camp  safely. 

Now,  boys  and  girls,  in  your  voyage  through 
life,  you  must  beware  of  rocks.  And  I  want 
you  to  notice  there  are  two  kinds  of  rocks. 

First,  the  rocks  that  are  visible,  that  is, 
those  you  can  see.  We  had  several  rocks  of 
this  kind  in  our  lake  and  some  of  them  were 
quite  large.  Sometimes  we  saw  a  boat  an¬ 
chored  near  one  of  them  and  a  person  seated 
on  the  rock,  fishing.  No  one  would  steer  his 
boat  upon  one  of  these  rocks,  for  they  are  in 
plain  sight. 

So  in  your  voyage  of  life  there  are  rocks 
that  you  see,  the  rocks  against  which  your 
parents,  your  teachers,  and  your  pastor  have 


104  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


warned  you,  like  the  saloon,  the  gambling- 
house,  and  the  bad  moving-picture  shows. 
You  need  not  go  to  any  of  these  places  unless 
you  so  desire.  They  are  the  visible  rocks 
against  which  you  will  wreck  your  boat. 

But  there  are  other  kinds  of  rocks  that  are 
even  more  dangerous — the  hidden  ones.  If  I 
had  seen  this  hidden  rock,  I  would  not  have 
steered  the  boat  upon  it,  but  I  thought  I  had 
steered  sufficiently  far  out  into  the  lake  to 
escape  them  all. 

So  it  is  the  hidden  rocks  in  life  against 
which  you  must  be  especially  on  your  guard. 
It  is  the  temptation  that  comes  when  you  are 
not  looking  for  it,  and  when  you  do  not  expect 
it,  that  is  so  dangerous.  Perhaps  it  is  the 
temptation  to  cheat  at  an  examination.  You 
cannot  solve  one  of  the  problems,  and  acci¬ 
dentally  you  see  the  answer  of  another  student 
in  front  of  you.  Why  not  use  it?  Or  perhaps 
you  are  tempted  to  take  a  postage  stamp  or 
something  that  does  not  belong  to  you,  just 
to  save  yourself  time  and  annoyance.  In  these 
and  in  other  little  ways,  temptations  come 
unexpectedly.  They  are  just  like  hidden  rocks 
in  the  lake. 

So  my  text,  this  morning,  is  this  saying  of 
Jesus,  Watch  and  pray,  lest  ye  enter  into 
temptation.”  Beware  of  the  hidden  rocks. 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  ZOO 


XXIV 


FEEDING-TIME  AT  THE  ZOO 

Last  week  we  made  our  annual  trip  to  the 
Zoo.  Perhaps  you  would  like  to  hear  about 
some  of  the  interesting  things  that  we  saw. 

We  arrived  just  in  time  for  the  feeding  of 
the  bears.  A  keeper  had  a  handcart  filled 
with  loaves  of  bread  and  pieces  of  meat,  which 
he  was  throwing  over  into  the  dens  of  the 
bears.  Each  bear  waited  his  turn  for  the 
bread  and  meat,  with  the  exception  of  some 
little  black  bears  who  fought  like  cats. 

We  found  the  feeding  so  interesting  to 
watch  that  we  followed  the  keeper  around. 
We  decided  that  one  of  the  bears  in  the  last 
den  must  have  poor  teeth,  because  he  took 
the  hard  loaf  of  bread  over  to  a  little  pool 
of  water  in  the  center  of  the  den,  and  dipping 
it  in,  held  it  there  until  it  was  soft.  As  we 
were  watching  him  the  keeper  turned,  and 
touching  his  cap,  said  to  the  man  next  to  us, 
“Good  afternoon,  Chief.”  So  we  knew  at  once 
that  this  man  was  one  of  the  superintendents 
of  the  Zoo.  We  spoke  to  him,  and  he  told  us 
some  very  interesting  things  about  the  animals* 

10? 


108  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


“Did  you  see  the  big  brown  bears  as  you 
passed?”  he  asked.  When  we  answered  “Yes,” 
he  continued,  “If  you  will  come  with  me  I 
will  show  you  something  that  will  interest 
you.”  So  we  all  went  back  to  see  the  big 
brown  bears. 

The  father-bear  was  eating  his  dinner  in 
one  corner  of  the  den,  and  the  mother-bear 
in  the  other.  As  we  stood  and  watched  them 
the  superintendent  told  us  their  history,  and 
how  they  were  two  of  the  largest  bears  in 
captivity.  He  said:  “An  army  officer  who  has 
hunted  bears  was  here  the  other  day,  and  he 
exclaimed:  ‘My!  I  wouldn’t  like  to  meet  that 
big  fellow  in  the  woods!  He  is  the  largest  I 
have  ever  seen.’  ” 

Just  then,  the  big  father-bear  finished  his 
loaves  and  meat,  and,  with  a  roar,  rushed 
toward  the  mother-bear,  who  was  still  eating. 
She  heard  him  coming,  gave  a  funny  scream, 
and  grabbing  a  bone,  rushed  to  another  corner 
of  the  den.  She  left  behind  her  two  or  three 
loaves  of  bread  and  some  fine  meat,  and  the 
father-bear  tried  to  pick  them  all  up  at  once 
in  his  paws.  There  were  too  many  for  him, 
however,  so  with  his  forepaws,  he  pulled  them 
all  under  him,  and  calmly  sitting  down  on 
them,  ate  them  one  by  one.  “You  see,”  said 
the  superintendent,  “that  bear  does  not  be- 


FEEDING-TIME  AT  THE  ZOO  109 


lieve  in  woman  suffrage.  He  wants  to  be  boss, 
for  he  does  that  every  time.” 

What  do  you  children  call  a  bear  like  that? 
Greedy?  Of  course,  and  would  you  believe 
it,  some  men  and  women,  and  sometimes, 
even  little  boys  and  girls,  are  like  that,  though 
perhaps  in  a  different  way.  What  do  you 
think  of  the  boy  who  reaches  for  the  largest 
piece  of  cake  on  the  plate,  or  takes  a  whole 
handful  of  peanuts  and  stuffs  them  in  his 
pocket  when  his  friend  offers  him  some,  or  how 
do  you  like  the  girl  who  takes  the  largest 
chocolate  out  of  your  box?  But  I  know  that 
none  of  my  Juniors  are  like  those  children, 
and  that,  whatever  animal  you  may  imitate, 
it  will  not  be  the  big  brown  bear.  That  is  the 
story  of  one  of  the  feeding-times  at  the  Zoo. 


XXV 


THE  REPTILE  HOUSE 

On  our  trip  to  the  Zoo,  about  which  I  spoke 
to  you  last  week,  we  visited  the  Reptile 
House.  Some  people,  you  know,  do  not  like 
snakes,  and  will  not  go  in  to  see  them,  but 
there  is  nothing  to  be  afraid  of  in  the  Zoo, 
for  all  the  snakes  are  firmly  secured  in  large 
glass  cases  like  cabinets. 

While  there  were  other  animals  in  the  Rep¬ 
tile  House  such  as  mice,  frogs,  and  alligators, 
the  chief  center  of  attraction  was,  of  course, 
the  snakes — big  snakes,  little  snakes,  snakes 
of  all  kinds  and  colors  and  sizes.  The  keepers 
of  the  Zoo  have  arranged  the  inside  of  the 
glass  cases  to  correspond  with  the  various  sur¬ 
roundings  from  which  the  snakes  came,  so 
that  they  could  feel  perfectly  at  home.  In 
some  cases  were  grass  and  trees,  and  in  others, 
rocks,  pebbles,  and  sand. 

As  we  passed  one  case  we  said,  “Where  are 
the  snakes?”  for  none  were  in  sight.  We  looked 
more  closely,  however,  and  saw  them  coiled 
up  on  the  rocks  on  the  side  of  a  little  hill, 
but  their  color  so  blended  with  the  rocks 

110 


THE  REPTILE  HOUSE 


111 


and  sand  that  you  could  scarcely  see  them. 
We  realized  how  necessary  it  would  be  to 
watch  your  steps  as  you  went  walking  in  the 
country  from  which  these  snakes  came. 

As  we  were  examining  the  snakes  in  another 
case  the  door  at  the  back  of  the  case  opened 
and  a  keeper,  with  a  long-handled  window 
cleaner,  began  to  clean  the  inside  of  the  win¬ 
dows  of  the  case  right  over  where  the  snakes 
were  lying.  As  an  occasional  drop  of  water 
would  fall,  the  snakes  began  to  squirm,  two 
or  three  of  them  becoming  very  angry.  One 
in  particular  began  swaying  back  and  forth, 
his  tongue  darting  out  as  his  head  rose  higher 
and  higher,  preparing  to  strike  the  man.  We 
thought  the  keeper  did  not  see  him,  and  were 
just  about  to  cry  out  to  warn  him,  “Look 
out!”  when  he  quietly  put  his  hand  behind 
him,  took  a  stick  which  he  had  in  readiness, 
caught  the  snake  on  the  little  fork  at  the  end 
of  the  stick  and  pushed  him  back  in  the  corner. 
He  did  the  same  with  the  rest  of  the  snakes 
who  were  troubling  him,  and  then  went  on 
quietly  washing  the  glass  as  if  nothing  had 
happened.  We  learned  then  the  value  of  the 
Boy  Scout  motto,  “Be  Prepared.” 

On  the  next  two  or  three  cases,  which 
enclosed  the  great  pythons — the  largest  snakes 
in  the  world— there  was  pasted  a  sign,  “Don’t 


112  STORY  SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


tap  on  the  glass/’  Why,  do  you  suppose?  I 
think  it  was  because  of  the  danger.  If  you 
tapped  on  the  glass,  it  would  annoy  and  anger 
the  pythons,  who  were  so  large  and  strong 
that  with  one  blow  of  their  heads  they  could 
break  the  glass.  Then  what  would  you  do? 
So  the  sign  “Don’t  tap  on  the  glass”  was  put 
up  as  a  warning  by  the  keepers,  for  they  do 
not  wish  you  to  incur  any  unnecessary  danger. 
I  hope  you  will  always  obey  it. 

“Don’t  tap  on  the  glass.”  Do  not  run  into 
any  unnecessary  danger.  That  is  pretty  good 
advice  to  follow,  boys  and  girls,  not  only  in 
the  Zoo  but  in  all  life.  Of  course  when  duty 
calls  we  must  go,  no  matter  where  it  is — God 
will  protect  us.  But  we  must  neither  endanger 
our  lives  unnecessarily  nor  seek  out  tempta¬ 
tion.  The  wise  man  of  olden  times  had  this 
in  mind  when  he  said,  “Enter  not  into  the 
path  of  the  wicked,  go  not  in  the  way  of  evil 
men.  Avoid  it,  pass  it  by.”  That  is  a  pretty 
long  text  to  remember,  but  you  can  certainly 
remember  the  sign,  “Do  not  tap  on  the  glass.” 


THE  THREE  WISE  MONKEYS 


“Where  truth  in  closest  words  shall  fail 
Truth  embodied  in  a  tale, 

Shall  enter  in  at  lowly  doors.”1 

— Tennyson. 

1  Reprinted  by  permission  of  The  Macmillan  Company  from  Tennyson's 
Poetical  Works. 


XXVI 


SPEAK  NO  EVIL 

(Object:  The  Three  Japanese  Monkeys) 

I  hold  in  my  hand  a  group  of  three  little 
Japanese  monkeys.  The  first  is  covering  his 
mouth  with  his  hand,  the  second  his  eyes,  the 
third  his  ears.  Now,  they  represent  three 
Japanese  proverbs.  Do  any  of  you  know 
what  they  are?  Yes,  "'Speak  no  evil,”  "See 
no  evil,”  "Hear  no  evil.”  This  morning  we 
are  going  to  talk  about  the  first,  "Speak  no 
evil.” 

Straws  show  which  way  the  wind  blows. 
So  small  things  often  show  what  a  person  is. 
There  are  persons,  you  know,  who  claim  to 
read  character  by  observing  these  little  things. 
They  will  look  at  the  lines  in  your  hands  and 
profess  to  read  your  fortune,  but,  while  they 
may  not  be  able  to  do  this,  they  can,  to  a 
certain  extent,  read  your  character.  The 
same  thing  is  true  with  handwriting.  A  per¬ 
son’s  words  also  reveal  his  character.  Even 
those  who  do  not  understand  palmistry,  or 
cannot  tell  character  by  handwriting,  know 
this. 


115 


116  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


When  you  forget  this  Japanese  proverb,  and 
speak  evil,  it  shows  what  kind  of  boys  and 
girls  you  are  down  in  your  hearts,  for  Jesus 
said  to  the  Pharisees,  “Out  of  the  abundance 
of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh”;  that  is,  a 
man  speaks  what  his  heart  is  full  of.  Evil 
words,  impure  words,  never  come  out  of  a 
pure  heart.  So  the  first  thing  we  must  do  to 
refrain  from  evil  speaking  is  to  ask  Jesus  to 
change  our  hearts  and  make  them  clean. 

But  our  words  also  have  their  influence 
upon  our  hearts.  If  you  try  so  to  live  that 
no  unkind  words  shall  pass  your  lips,  that 
will  help  to  strengthen  your  heart.  If  you 
do  not,  then  God  will  want  to  know  wThy, 
for  just  after  Jesus  had  spoken  of  the  heart, 
he  said,  “For  every  idle  word  that  man  shall 
speak,  he  shall  give  account  thereof.”  This 
is  the  second  reason  why  we  must  be  careful 
to  speak  no  evil — we  must  give  an  account 
of  it  to  God. 

A  third  reason  is  that  you  cannot  unsay 
evil  words  when  you  once  say  them,  no  matter 
how  anxious  you  may  be  to  do  so. 

The  story  is  told  of  a  woman  who  freely 
used  her  tongue  to  speak  evil  of  others.  After¬ 
ward  she  made  confessions  to  her  priest.  In 
order  to  show  her  the  terrible  harm  she  had 
done,  he  bade  her  secure  a  ripe  thistle-top 


SPEAK  NO  EVIL 


117 


and  then  go  out  and  scatter  the  seeds  one  by 
one.  She  did  so.  When  she  returned  he  told 
her,  to  her  amazement,  to  go  back  and  gather 
up  the  scattered  seeds. 

“That  is  impossible;  no  one  can  do  that.” 

“No  more  can  you,”  said  the  priest,  “undo 
the  evil  thing  you  have  done  by  speaking  evil 
of  others.” 

Will  Carleton,  the  poet,  has  expressed  that 
thought  in  a  little  poem,  which  I  wish  every 
one  of  you  Juniors  would  commit  to  memory: 

4 ‘Boys,  flying  kites,  haul  in  their  white- winged  birds; 

You  can’t  do  that  when  you  are  flying  words. 

Careful  with  fire  is  good  advice  we  know; 

Careful  with  words  is  ten  times  doubly  so. 

Thoughts,  unexpressed,  may  sometimes  fall  back 
dead, 

But  even  God  can’t  kill  them  once  they’re  said.”1 

One  of  the  best  ways  I  know  of  to  keep 
from  speaking  evil  is  by  doing  just  the  oppo¬ 
site;  that  is,  instead  of  saying  mean  things, 
cutting  things,  unkind  things,  say  good  things, 
kind  things,  pleasant  things,  until  it  becomes  a 
habit. 

Some  people,  you  know,  have  formed  the 
habit  of  always  complaining  and  whining,  and 
criticizing.  In  the  home  they  criticize  the  food 

1  “The  Settler’s  Story,”  from  Farm  Festivals,  by  Will  Carleton.  Copy¬ 
righted,  1898,  by  Harper  &  Brothers,  New  York.  Used  by  permission. 


118  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


or  complain  about  this  or  that,  also  in  school 
and  at  play.  Others  there  are  who  have  formed 
the  habit  of  saying  kind  things,  encouraging 
things,  so  that  they  do  it  without  thinking. 
This  is  what  Jesus  did. 

Thinking  of  what  he  said  about  idle  words, 
I  turned  to  my  Bible  and  found  this  in  regard 
to  Jesus  himself:  “They  marveled  at  his  gra¬ 
cious  words.”  Wouldn't  it  be  a  glorious  thing 
if  that  were  true  of  us — that  men  and  women, 
boys  and  girls,  marveled  at  our  gracious  words? 
Let  us  make  it  true.  We  can  do  it  if  we  only 
ask  Jesus  to  help  us,  and  then  follow  his 
example. 

“Kind  words  can  never  die, 

Cherished  and  blest, 

God  knows  how  deep  they  lie 
Stored  in  the  breast; 

Like  childhood’s  simple  rimes. 

Said  o’er  a  thousand  times 
Ay,  in  all  years  and  climes. 

Distant  and  near. 

Kind  words  can  never  die, 

No,  never  die.” 


XXVII 


SEE  NO  EVIL 

(Object:  Camera  and  Three  Japanese 

Monkeys) 

Our  subject  this  morning  is  the  Japanese 
proverb  represented  by  the  monkey  covering 
his  eyes  with  his  hands. 

You  have  all  seen  a  camera  like  the  one  I 
hold  in  my  hand.  This  is  the  lens — the  eye 
of  the  camera — through  which  the  picture  of 
our  object  comes.  This  is  the  lever  which 
uncovers  the  lens,  just  for  an  instant,  so  that 
the  picture  may  be  taken.  Here  at  the  back 
of  the  camera  is  the  plate  or  film  upon  which 
the  picture  is  taken.  Now,  if  you  were  to 
examine  the  film  immediately  before  and  after 
taking  the  picture,  you  would  see  no  differ¬ 
ence  in  its  appearance,  but  the  photographer 
must  take  the  film  into  a  dark  room  where 
no  rays  of  light  can  come,  and  put  it  in  a  bath 
of  chemicals  which  brings  out,  or,  as  we  say, 
develops  the  picture.  Everything  on  the  film, 
however,  is  reversed,  so  we  call  it  the  negative. 
Then  the  photographer  places  the  negative 
upon  a  sensitive  paper  and  exposes  it  to  a  strong 

119 


/ 


120  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


light,  and  lo!  we  have  a  correct  picture  of 
whatever  the  lens,  the  eye  of  the  camera,  saw. 

Now,  our  eyes  correspond  to  the  lens  in 
the  camera.  The  brain  corresponds  to  the 
film  or  plate  upon  which  the  picture  is  photo¬ 
graphed.  It  is  then  stored  up  in  the  memory, 
which  we  may  fitly  describe  as  a  chamber  of 
imagery. 

Rut  how  are  the  pictures  developed?  You 
cannot  take  them  out  as  you  do  the  films  in 
a  camera,  and  then  go  into  a  dark  room  and 
develop  them.  The  process  is  much  simpler 
than  that.  You  develop  the  pictures  that  are 
photographed  on  the  brain  simply  by  think¬ 
ing  about  them.  The  more  you  think  about 
them,  the  clearer  will  the  picture  become  and 
the  deeper  will  the  impression  be  made  until 
it  becomes  permanent.  So  you  see  the  need 
of  the  second  Japanese  proverb  represented  by 
the  monkey  which  is  covering  his  eyes  with 
his  hands,  "‘See  no  evil.” 

Take  care  not  to  look  upon  anything  that 
will  do  you  harm.  Do  not  go  where  evil 
pictures  and  evil  things  are,  unless  called  by 
duty.  Your  parents  will  guide  you  until  you 
are  old  enough  to  understand  for  yourself. 
If  you  do  see  things  that  are  evil,  as  you  will 
sometimes  in  public  places,  do  not  think 
about  them,  for,  as  I  have  just  told  you,  think- 


SEE  NO  EVIL 


121 


ing  develops  the  picture  and  makes  it  perma¬ 
nent;  but  think  of  some  of  the  other  good 
pictures  that  are  stored  up  in  your  memory 
— in  your  chamber  of  imagery — and  ask  Jesus 
to  help  you,  and  the  bad  picture  will  be 
blotted  out. 

“See  no  evil”  is  the  Japanese  proverb,  and 
it  is  a  good  one  to  remember,  but  this  morn¬ 
ing  I  want  to  give  you  another  one  to  remem¬ 
ber  with  it — “See  all  that  is  good.”  Look  at 
some  beautiful  picture  every  day,  or  read 
some  beautiful  poem,  or  some  word  about 
Jesus,  and  then  think  about  it  until  the  pic¬ 
ture  is  painted  indelibly  upon  your  memory. 
That  is  what  Ruskin  did.  When  he  was  a 
boy  his  father  would  never  let  him  look  at  a 
poor  picture  or  a  bad  picture,  so  he  grew  up 
to  love  the  beautiful,  and  he  became  a  great 
writer  and  authority  upon  art.  He  was  one 
of  the  best  judges  of  art  in  the  world. 

But  while  looking  upon  beautiful  pictures 
do  not  forget  to  look  through  these  windows 
of  your  chamber  of  imagery — your  eyes — at 
the  beautiful  in  nature,  that  is,  the  flowers, 
the  grass,  the  trees,  the  birds,  the  stars,  the 
clouds,  the  sunsets  like  the  sunset  we  saw 
last  night,  then  thank  God  for  all  these  won¬ 
derful  pictures  he  has  painted  for  you  to 
enjoy 


122  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


“See  all  that  is  good.”  Yes,  not  only  in 
nature,  but  in  people  as  well.  But  that  re¬ 
quires  training.  Just  as  you  must  train  your 
eyes  in  order  to  shoot  accurately,  or  to  see 
good  points  in  the  picture,  so  you  must  train 
them  to  see  the  good  things,  the  nice  things, 
the  pleasant  things  in  the  lives  of  men  and 
women,  boys  and  girls,  even  as  Jesus  did. 
So,  in  these  various  ways,  store  your  memory 
— your  chamber  of  imagery — with  beautiful  and 
good  pictures.  See  no  evil,  see  all  that  is  good. 
And  what  the  beggars  in  Corfu  say  to  the 
travelers,  so  I  would  say  to  you,  “May  you 
enjoy  your  eyes.” 


XXVIII 


HEAR  NO  EVIL 

(Object:  The  Three  Japanese  Monkeys) 

The  third  monkey,  as  you  see,  has  his  ears 
covered,  representing  the  proverb,  4 'Hear  no 
evil.’5 

Last  Sunday  morning  I  told  you  that  we 
must  train  our  eyes.  In  like  manner  our  ears 
need  educating.  That  is  why  Jesus  said  to 
his  disciples,  "Take  heed  how  ye  hear,5’  "Take 
heed  what  ye  hear.55 

Train  yourselves  to  hear  and  life  will  mean 
so  much  more  to  you.  A  great  many  persons 
walk  through  the  woods  on  a  summer  day, 
and  they  do  not  hear  a  single  thing,  but  others 
hear  all  sorts  of  interesting  sounds.  They  hear 
the  rustling  of  the  leaves  in  the  breeze,  the 
chattering  of  the  squirrels,  the  songs  of  the 
birds  and  their  "Chirp,  chirp,  chirp.55  Yes, 
they  hear  wonderful  sounds  such  as  the  poet 
describes : 

"Two  little  ears  God  gave  to  u«, 

Two  little  ears  to  hoar 
All  the  glad  sounds  this  joyous  world 
Sends  forth,  so  sweet  and  clear; 

123 


12 4  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


Songs  of  the  birds  and  rippling  streams, 
Music  made  all  around; 

These  little  ears  God  gave  to  us 
Rejoice  in  every  sound.”1 

Train  your  ears  to  hear  accurately.  “Take 
heed  how  ye  hear.”  One  reason  why  we 
forget  so  soon  is  because  we  do  not  listen 
carefully.  The  words  of  our  parents  or  our 
teachers  “go  in  one  ear  and  out  the  other.” 
We  know  how  necessary  it  is  in  times  of  sick¬ 
ness  to  give  heed  how  we  hear,  for  a  mistake 
then  might  mean  death,  death  to  ourselves  or 
to  others.  So  form  the  habit  of  listening  care¬ 
fully,  of  hearing  accurately,  in  order  that  you 
may  remember. 

“Take  heed  what  you  hear.”  This  is  where 
the  Japanese  proverb  represented  by  the  mon¬ 
key  covering  his  ears,  applies.  “Hear  no  evil.” 
There  are  two  entrances  to  the  memory,  or 
chamber  of  imagery — one  by  the  eye-gate,  one 
by  the  ear-gate.  So  that  no  bad  pictures  may 
hang  in  that  chamber  of  imagery,  we  must 
be  careful  of  what  we  hear.  “Hear  no  evil.” 

“Hear  no  evil  of  others.”  If  we  refused  to 
listen  to  mean  things,  unkind  things,  evil 
things,  people  would  soon  stop  saying  them. 
As  it  takes  two  to  make  a  quarrel,  so  it  takes 
two  to  spread  evil  stories — a  speaker  and  a 


2  Author  unknown. 


HEAR  NO  EVIL 


125 


hearer.  See  to  it  that  you  are  not  the  hearer. 
Cover  your  ears  as  this  little  monkey  is  do¬ 
ing,  and  say,  “I  will  not  listen  to  evil  about 
others.”  “Hear  no  evil.” 

But  this  proverb  also  means  that  you  must 
not  listen  when  others  suggest  evil  things  for 
you  to  do.  If  Eve,  in  the  Garden  of  Eden, 
had  refused  to  listen  to  Satan,  she  would  not 
have  taken  the  forbidden  fruit.  You  remember 
what  Jesus  did  in  the  wilderness  when  Satan 
came  tempting  him.  He  said,  “Get  thee  be¬ 
hind  me,  Satan.”  “Hear  no  evil,” 

Sometimes  we  cannot  help  hearing  evil 
things.  What  then?  Then  you  must  close 
your  hearts  to  the  evil  suggestion.  There  is  an 
old  proverb  which  says,  “You  cannot  help 
birds  flying  around  your  head,  but  you  can 
prevent  them  nesting  in  your  hair.”  So,  while 
you  cannot  always  stop  people  saying  evil 
things,  you  need  not  act  upon  them.  Just 
offer  a  little  prayer,  “Lord  Jesus,  help  me”; 
then  think  of  something  good  you  have 
heard.  Learn  beautiful  poems;  above  all, 
learn  as  many  Bible  verses  as  possible,  and 
you  will  never  be  left  without  something  good 
to  think  about.  So  you  will  keep  bad  pic¬ 
tures  from  coming  into  your  chamber  of  im¬ 
agery  through  the  ear-gate  and  you  will  “hear 
no  evil.” 


BIRDS 


The  robin  and  the  bluebird,  piping  loud, 

Filled  all  the  blossoming  orchards  with  their  glee; 
The  sparrows  chirped  as  if  they  still  were  proud 
Their  race  in  Holy  Writ  should  mentioned  be. 
And  hungry  crows,  assembled  in  a  crowd, 

Clamored  their  piteous  prayers  incessantly, 
Knowing  who  hears  the  raven’s  cry,  and  said: 
“Give  us,  O  Lord,  this  day,  our  daily  bread!”1 

— Longfellow . 

1  From  “The  Birds  of  Killingworth.”  Used  by  permission  of  Houghton, 
Mifflin  &  Company. 


XXIX 


JESUS  AND  THE  BIRDS 

One  summer  recently  a  minister  and  his 
family  spent  their  vacation  in  the  Catskill 
Mountains.  One  of  the  most  enjoyable  of  all 
their  experiences  was  a  bird  class  conducted 
by  a  student.  Early  every  morning  for  two 
weeks,  very  early  indeed,  between  twenty  and 
thirty  men,  women,  and  children  went  out  for 
a  bird  walk.  What  a  wonderful  time  they  had! 
Although  it  was  the  month  of  August,  they 
saw  twenty-three  varieties  of  birds  in  one 
morning. 

They  learned  many  things  on  these  walks, 
among  others  the  need  of  training  if  one  would 
know  the  birds — training  of  eye,  because  there 
are  so  many  different  kinds  of  birds,  and,  as 
a  rule,  you  can  only  get  a  brief  glimpse  of 
them  as  they  are  flying  by;  training  of  the 
ear,  because  they  all  have  different  songs — 
some  of  them  having  more  than  one,  like  the 
song-sparrow  for  example,  which  has  six  dif¬ 
ferent  melodies  in  its  repertoire.  Indeed,  they 
learned  so  many  interesting  things  on  those 

129 


130  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


“bird  walks”  that  I  thought  you  might  enjoy 
hearing  about  some  of  them.  I  shall  begin  by 
talking  to  you  about  Jesus  and  the  birds. 

Jesus  must  have  loved  the  birds.  Though 
born  in  a  city,  he  was  brought  up  in  the  little 
country  town  of  Nazareth.  As  a  boy  he  spent 
much  time  exploring  the  country  round,  study¬ 
ing  the  birds  and  the  flowers,  and  finding  out 
the  secrets  of  nature.  He  must  have  loved 
the  out-of-door  life,  for  when  he  began  to 
preach  and  teach  he  told  many  stories  about 
things  he  had  seen  and  heard — the  shepherd 
who  looked  for  his  lost  sheep;  the  man  who 
built  his  house  on  the  sand,  and  when  the 
storm  came,  it  fell  down;  the  red  sky  at  night 
a  sign  of  fair  weather;  in  the  morning — a  sign 
of  storm;  and  the  birds  that  came  and  picked 
up  the  seed  as  it  fell  by  the  wayside. 

Perhaps  you  would  like  to  know  the  names 
of  the  birds  of  Jesus’  country,  the  birds  he 
saw  and  heard?  Some  of  them  had  feathers 
of  red,  blue,  green,  and  gold;  with  lovely 
wings  and  breasts,  and  strange  names — hoopoe, 
roller,  bulbul,  sunbird;  but  there  were  also 
birds  that  you  know — the  lark,  robin  redbreast, 
blackbird,  wren,  nightingale,  thrush,  swallow, 
eagle,  raven,  partridge,  crow,  and  that  most 
common  of  all  birds,  the  English  sparrow. 
Jesus  must  have  seen  many  sparrows,  for  he 


JESUS  AND  THE  BIRDS 


131 


used  them  as  an  illustration  for  one  of  his 
sermons. 

He  had  been  warning  his  disciples  of  the 
dangers  which  threatened  them  from  evil  men, 
and  he  told  them  not  to  be  afraid,  God  would 
protect  them.  “Are  not  two  sparrows  sold 
for  a  penny,  and  not  one  of  them  shall  fall 
to  the  ground  without  your  Father’s  notice?” 

Now,  the  people  in  the  Eastern  countries 
catch  sparrows  in  nets,  and  as  there  are  thou¬ 
sands  of  them,  sell  them  very  cheaply  indeed 
for  food;  but  in  spite  of  that  fact,  God  knows 
each  one. 

“I  know  there  are  many  sparrows; 

All  over  the  world  we’re  found; 

But  our  heavenly  Father  knoweth 
When  one  of  us  falls  to  the  ground. 

“Though  small,  we  are  never  forgotten, 

Though  weak,  we  are  never  afraid; 

For  we  know  that  the  dear  Lord  keepeth 
The  life  of  the  creatures  he  made.” 

So  Jesus  would  have  his  disciples  remember 
that  as  God  cares  for  the  sparrows  and  all 
other  birds,  so  he  will  care  for  them  too,  for 
he  is  their  Father. 

It  was  a  terrible  storm  at  sea,  and  all  the 
people  on  the  ship  were  very  much  alarmed, 
with  the  exception  of  one  little  girl. 


132  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


“Aren't  you  afraid?”  some  one  asked  her. 

“Why,  no,”  she  said.  “My  Father  is  at  the 
helm.” 

So  we  need  never  be  afraid.  God  our  Father 
is  watching  over  us,  and  as  he  took  care  of 
that  little  girl,  and  as  he  takes  care  of  the 
birds,  he  will  take  care  of  us. 


XXX 


SPARROWS 

Last  Sunday  we  heard  how  God  takes  care 
of  the  sparrows,  and  though  there  are  many 
thousands  of  them  all  over  the  world,  not  one 
falls  to  the  ground  without  his  notice.  Wouldn’t 
you  like  to  hear  more  about  them? 

All  of  them  are  dressed  in  dull,  brownish 
colors,  more  or  less  streaked  with  gray — colors 
which  harmonize  with  the  grassy,  bushy  places 
or  dusty  roadsides  where  they  live.  This,  of 
couse,  makes  it  more  difficult  for  their  enemies 
to  see  them.  In  size  they  are  mostly  small 
birds — not  one  as  large  as  a  robin.  The  spar¬ 
rows  are  seed-eating  birds  and  can  find  food 
all  the  year  round,  so  that  their  migrations 
are  short.  They  do  a  great  deal  of  good  by 
destroying  the  seeds  of  weeds  which  otherwise 
would  overrun  the  farmer’s  fields  and  gardens. 
There  are  many  varieties  of  sparrows,  the 
chief  ones — vesper,  chipping,  English,  and  song. 

You  will  see  the  vesper  sparrow  chiefly  on 
the  dusty  roadsides,  and  you  can  always  tell 
him  by  the  white  on  each  side  of  his  tail  as 
he  spreads  it  out  to  fly.  He  received  his  name 

133 


134  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


because  be  has  formed  tbe  habit  of  singing 
toward  evening,  just  after  the  sun  goes  down 
behind  the  purple  hills,  and  a  very  sweet  voice 
he  has  too. 

The  chipping  sparrow — “little  chippy,”  as  we 
call  him — you  will  recognize  by  his  chestnut 
crown  and  the  white  line  through  his  eye. 

He  is  the  smallest  of  all  sparrows,  but  so 
very  sociable  and  friendly.  He  frequently 
builds  his  nest  in  the  trees  near  the  house,  or 
in  the  orchard,  and  eats  great  quantities  of 
insects  and  worms. 

But  what  shall  I  say  about  the  English 
sparrow?  Everybody,  both  in  the  country  and 
the  city,  knows  him,  and  few  like  him.  He 
was  first  introduced  into  this  country  in  1851, 
to  rid  some  shade-trees  in  Brooklyn  of  inch- 
worms.  But  as  conditions  which  keep  the 
English  sparrow  in  check  in  his  own  land  are 
lacking  here,  he  has  gained  in  numbers  at  such 
a  rapid  rate  that  he  is  found  in  all  parts  of 
our  land,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and 
has  become  a  pest.  He  is  bold,  impudent, 
quarrelsome,  and  a  great  bully,  especially  with 
smaller  birds.  Nobody,  whether  man  or  bird, 
wants  him  around. 

How  different  this  from  the  song  sparrow, 
the  children’s  favorite!  Many  times  have  I 
seen  him  on  a  tree,  a  fence,  a  telegraph  wire, 


SPARROWS 


135 


looking  up  into  heaven  and  pouring  forth  his 
song  so  full  of  joy  and  gladness.  He  seems 
to  be  always  cheerful,  no  matter  what  the 
weather  is.  No  wonder  we  like  him,  for  good 
spirits  are  contagious,  and  he  cheers  and  en¬ 
courages  us  when  we  need  it  most.  Dr.  Henry 
van  Dyke  says  about  his  song: 

“I  like  the  tune,  I  like  the  words; 

They  seem  so  true,  so  free  from  art. 

So  friendly,  and  so  full  of  heart, 

That  if  but  one  of  all  the  birds 
Could  be  my  comrade  everywhere, 

My  little  brother  of  the  air, 

This  is  the  one  I’d  choose,  my  dear, 

Because  he’d  bless  me,  every  year, 

With  ‘Sweet — sweet- — sweet — very  merry  cheer l9 

Which  of  the  sparrows  would  you  rather  be 
like,  children,  the  English  sparrow  or  the  song 
sparrow — the  English  sparrow,  which  is  selfish, 
quarrelsome,  and  noisy,  or  the  song  sparrow, 
which  everybody  loves  because  he  is  so  cheer¬ 
ful  and  makes  us  feel  happy  and  glad  just  to 
listen  to  him? 

Some  time  ago  I  read  of  a  little  boy  who 
was  like  a  song  sparrow  in  his  influence,  though 
he  was  very  delicate  in  health.  One  day  as 
he  was  looking  out  upon  a  very  beautiful  sun- 

1  Poems ,  by  Henry  van  Dyke.  Used  by  permission  of  Charles  Scribner’s 
Sons. 


136  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


set,  he  cried  out,  “Oh,  mother!  how  I  would 
like  to  help  God  paint  the  sky!”  His  mother 
replied,  “You  are  making  the  sky  of  my  life 
very,  very  bright.” 

Let  us  pray  God  to  help  us  be  like  the  song 
sparrow,  then  we,  too,  will  make  the  sky  of 
the  lives  of  others  very,  very  bright. 


XXXI 


THE  ROBIN 

“  ‘Who  killed  Cock  Robin?’ 

‘I,'  said  the  Sparrow — 

‘With  my  bow  and  arrow 
I  killed  Cock  Robin.’  ” 

Our  American  robin  is  much  larger  than 
the  European  cock  robin,  about  which  we 
have  heard  so  much.  When  the  first  English 
colonists  came  to  this  country  they  saw  this 
big  cheerful  bird  and  they  called  him  a  “robin” 
because  of  his  red  breast.  It  reminded  them 
of  the  wee  little  bird  at  home.  He  is  first 
cousin  to  the  thrush,  and  is  a  good  singer. 
Like  the  thrush,  he  never  walks,  but  hops, 
though  sometimes  you  see  him  running  across 
the  lawns. 

The  robins  build  their  nests  very  early  in 
the  spring.  They  gather  some  coarse  grass, 
roots,  and  leaves  for  a  foundation  and  then 
cover  it  all  over  with  mud.  Then  they  line 
the  nest  with  dead  grass.  Sometimes,  however, 
a  heavy  rain  comes  and  washes  away  their 
nest  in  the  night,  and  they  have  to  build  it 
all  over  again. 


1ST 


138  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


What  a  wonderful  appetite  the  robin  has! 
Just  think  of  eating  every  day  more  than  we 
weigh.  That  is  why  father-robin  and  mother- 
robin  work  so  hard  to  find  food  for  them¬ 
selves  and  the  little  robins.  You  have  seen 
them,  I  am  sure,  pulling  earth-worms  out  of 
your  lawn.  They  seem  to  know  just  where 
the  worms  are.  They  run  a  few  steps,  listen, 
take  two  or  three  steps  to  the  right  or  the  left, 
stick  their  bills  in  the  earth,  give  a  tug,  and 
out  comes  the  worm.  It  is  estimated  that  a 
pair  of  robins,  with  a  family  to  feed,  will  pull 
out  enough  worms  in  one  day  to  make  a  line 
fourteen  feet  long.  But  they  eat  other  things 
besides  worms.  In  the  spring  they  catch  a 
great  many  insects  which  would  destroy  our 
fruit  and  vegetables,  and  for  that  reason  we 
ought  not  to  begrudge  them  the  few  cherries 
they  eat  in  the  summer. 

In  September  the  robins  gather  in  friendly 
groups  and  roam  around,  feeding  on  all  kinds 
of  berries.  Do  you  know  what  they  do  with 
the  seeds?  No,  they  do  not  swallow  them,  but 
they  drop  them  as  they  fly  around,  and  many 
seeds  take  root  and  grow  into  shrubs  and  trees. 
So  you  see,  the  robins  help  to  make  the  earth 
beautiful  by  observing  Arbor  Day  every  day. 

Many  interesting  legends  have  grown  up 
around  the  robin.  A  legend,  boys  and  girls, 


THE  ROBIN 


139 


is  a  story  that  has  been  handed  down  to  us 
from  long,  long  ago.  One  of  the  legends  tells 
us  that  Jesus  used  to  feed  robins  around  his 
mother's  door  when  he  was  a  boy.  I  can 
quite  believe  it,  because  robins  become  very 
tame  when  you  feed  them  and  grow  to  be  very 
fond  of  you,  as  you  are  of  them,  with  their 
sweet,  melodious  songs.  We  know  that  Jesus 
was  kind  to  all  birds  and  animals.  So  the 
legend  tells  us  that  when  they  placed  Jesus 
in  the  tomb,  a  robin  never  left  it  until  he  rose 
again,  and  when  he  went  up  into  heaven,  a 
robin  joined  in  the  angels'  song. 

Another  very  popular  story  is  that  when 
Jesus  was  on  his  way  to  Calvary,  toiling  be¬ 
neath  the  burden  of  the  cross,  a  robin,  in  the 
kindness  of  his  heart,  plucked  a  thorn  from  the 
crown  of  Jesus,  and  a  drop  of  blood  from 
Jesus’  brow  fell  upon  his  breast,  and  ever  since 
the  robin  has  had  a  red  breast.  I  think  that 
is  a  beautiful  story,  don’t  you?  Whether  it  is 
true  or  not,  it  shows  the  disposition  of  the 
robin.  A  robin  would  have  taken  off  the 
crown  of  thorns  if  he  could,  just  as  another 
story  tells  us,  one  covered  the  poor  babes  in 
the  woods  with  leaves.  Wouldn’t  you  like  the 
people  to  tell  beautiful  stories  about  you  be¬ 
cause  of  your  kindness  of  heart?  Learn  the 
Boy  Scout  motto,  “One  kind  turn  every  day.” 


XXXII 


CEDAR  WAX  WING,  OR  THE  POLITE 

BIRD 

From  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  Pacific 
from  Canada  to  Mexico,  you  will  find  the 
cedar  waxwing.  He  is  called  the  “cedar 
wax  wing”  because  he  is  very  fond  of  cedar 
berries.  Sometimes  he  is  called  the  cherry- 
bird,  because  he  likes  cherries  also.  On  his 
wings  are  small  red  spots  like  sealing  wax, 
which  are  responsible  for  the  queer  name  of 
“wax  wing.” 

He  wears  a  fine  silky,  soft,  grayish-brown 
dress,  almost  dovelike  in  color,  and  is  always 
very  neat  and  well  groomed.  His  beautiful 
pointed  crest  and  the  yellow  band  across  the 
end  of  his  tail  will  enable  3^ou  to  distinguish 
him  easily  from  other  birds. 

The  cedar  wax  wing  is  a  very  sociable  bird. 
He  is  rarely  ever  alone  but  always  with  other 
birds.  I  have  already  said  that  he  feeds  on 
cedar  berries.  Like  the  robin,  he  drops  the 
seeds  all  around  and  so  helps  to  make  the 
earth  beautiful.  In  addition,  he  likes  insects, 
elm-beetles,  grubs,  and  caterpillars.  The  far- 

140 


CEDAR  WAXWING 


141 


mer  may  grumble  and  scold  when  the  cedar 
waxwing  eats  his  cherries,  but  he  can  stand 
the  loss  of  a  few  cherries,  because  he  will  have 
more  and  better  apples,  for  the  cedar  waxwing 
eats  up  the  little  green  canker-worms  which 
destroy  the  orchards. 

When  the  cedar  waxwings  arrive  in  your 
neighborhood  there  are  no  noisy  chatterings, 
but  they  come  very  quietly,  for  they  are  gentle 
and  refined  in  manners.  That  is  why  we  call 
them  the  “polite  birds.”  They  are  so  courteous, 
having  the  same  nice  manners  at  home  as 
abroad.  Our  bird-guide  told  us  of  a  friend  of 
his,  who  saw  five  or  six  cedar  waxwings  sitting 
in  a  row  on  a  fence,  when  the  end  bird  caught 
a  grub.  He  very  courteously  passed  it  to  the 
next  bird,  and  he  to  the  next,  and  so  it  went 
right  down  the  line,  until  it  came  to  the  last 
bird,  who  quietly  ate  it. 

You  know  I  found  it  very  difficult  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  story  until  the  other  day,  when  I 
read  a  similar  story  by  Thornton  W.  Burgess, 
who  writes  the  nature  stories,  only  in  this 
instance,  it  was  a  fine,  red  cherry.  “Peter 
Rabbit  laughed  right  out  when  he  saw  it. 
‘Never  in  my  life  have  I  seen  such  politeness,5 
he  said.55 

The  cedar  waxwing  is  not  only  polite,  but 
he  is  very  kind  and  cares  for  the  young  birds 


142  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


very  tenderly.  The  father-bird  brings  in 
dainties  to  the  mother  and  helps  her  feed  her 
little  ones.  Moreover,  the  cedar  birds  are 
very  good  to  orphans.  I  heard  recently  the 
story  of  a  lady  who  was  watching  a  nest  of 
robins,  when  one  day  the  father-  and  mother- 
birds  failed  to  appear.  Apparently  some  one 
had  killed  them,  and  she  was  much  troubled 
to  know  how  she  could  get  to  the  high  nest 
and  feed  the  young  robins  who  were  calling  for 
their  dinner,  when  she  saw  a  cedar  bird  fly 
up  and  feed  them.  She  watched  very  care¬ 
fully  after  that,  and  every  day  the  cedar  bird 
fed  the  nestlings  and  took  care  of  them  until 
they  could  fly.  Many  similar  stories  have 
been  told  us  of  these  kind  birds. 

So,  children,  I  want  you  always  to  be  kind 
to  the  cedar  bird — the  polite  bird — and  pro¬ 
tect  him  from  all  danger,  not  only  because  he 
saves  the  elms  by  eating  elm-beetles,  but  also 
because  he  has  set  us  the  example  of  being 
courteous  and  kind. 


XXXIII 


THE  BUSY  BIRD— JENNY  WREN 

Good  morning,  Jenny  Wren!  Haven’t  you 
met  her  yet?  She  is  the  little  brown  bird  who 
is  so  excitable  and  yet  afraid  of  nothing.  The 
color — soft-brown  with  bars  of  another  shade 
— so  harmonizes  with  the  ground  that  you 
can  scarcely  see  the  wrens,  but  they  have  a 
way  of  holding  up  their  tails  so  that  you  will 
always  know  them. 

The  wrens  like  to  build  their  nests  in  snug 
little  holes  in  stumps  and  trees;  but  if  you 
will  make  a  little  house  for  them,  they  will 
come  and  live  in  it.  Take  a  little  box  and 
nail  it  up  under  the  eaves  of  the  barn,  chicken- 
house,  grape-arbor,  or  in  the  orchard.  Make 
a  little  opening,  about  an  inch  in  diameter 
for  the  wren  to  enter;  not  larger,  for  if  you  do, 
the  English  sparrow  will  go  in  and  take  pos¬ 
session.  The  wrens  will  furnish  the  box  them¬ 
selves.  They  will  pay  good  rent  for  the  house 
too,  because  they  will  destroy  a  large  number 
of  insects  on  your  place — grasshoppers,  bugs, 
beetles,  caterpillars,  grubs,  worms — nobody  can 
tell  just  how  many.  So,  you  see,  it  is  to  your 

143 


144  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


interest  to  encourage  the  wrens  to  build  near 
your  house,  for  they  will  kill  all  these  insects 
for  you,  and,  in  addition,  sing  their  beautiful 

songs. 

Have  you  ever  seen  them  build  their  nests? 
They  do  not  use  mud,  as  the  robin  does,  but 
fine  twigs;  and  the  funny  thing  about  it  is 
that  they  do  not  seem  to  know7  when  they 
have  enough  twigs.  They  keep  stuffing  them 
in  the  hole  or  box,  until  they  can  scarcely  get 
in  themselves.  How  hard  they  work!  You 
never  saw  such  busy  birds  in  your  life!  Then, 
too,  they  sing  almost  all  the  time.  Sometimes 
they  sing  so  hard  that  they  shake  all  over,  so 
in  earnest  are  they.  Yes,  and  if  you  come 
near  the  nest,  they  will  scold  just  as  hard. 
Whatever  they  do,  they  do  with  all  their 
might. 

That  is  the  lesson  I  want  you  to  learn  this 
morning  from  Jenny  Wren,  the  busy  bird. 
“Work  while  you  work,  and  play  while  you 
play.”  The  wise  man  who  wrote  the  book  of 
Proverbs,  warns  us  against  the  sluggard,  the 
slothful  man,  that  is,  the  lazy  man.  When 
you  ask  him  to  do  anything,  he  says,  “No,  I 
can’t,  there’s  a  lion  in  the  way.”  Yes,  it  is 
the  lazy  man’s  lion,  but  you  are  not  afraid 
of  him,  are  you?  Of  course  not,  for  the  lazy 
man’s  lion  is  just  an  excuse  to  get  out  of  work. 


THE  BUSY  BIRD 


145 


So  instead  of  being  like  the  sluggard,  who 
says  “There  is  a  lion  in  the  way,”  you  are 
going  to  be  like  little  Jenny  Wren,  the  busy 
bird,  and  practice  your  music  and  study  your 
lessons  with  all  your  might.  You  are  going 
to  be  busy  about  the  right  things,  the  good 
things,  as  Jesus  was.  Then,  when  you  grow 
up,  and  look  back  upon  your  life,  you  will 
say,  “I  am  so  glad  I  learned  about  Jenny  Wren? 
the  busy  bird.” 


XXXIV 


THE  BAD  BIRD— BLACKY  THE  CROW 

Everyone  knows  the  American  crow,  even 
though  he  knows  but  few  other  birds.  His 
large  size,  his  black  coat,  and  his  call  of  “Caw! 
caw!  caw!”  make  him  easily  remembered. 
Some  people  think  he  is  the  most  knowing 
bird  in  America.  Certainly  he  is  one  of  the 
cleverest.  More  than  once  a  crow  has  been 
seen  rising  in  the  air  with  a  clam  in  his  claws, 
dropping  it  on  a  rock  to  open  the  shell,  and 
then  swooping  down  to  feast  on  its  contents. 
Yet  we  think  we  can  frighten  away  such  birds 
from  the  corn  with  a  scarecrow!  Why,  some¬ 
times  they  eat  the  corn  all  around  the  scare¬ 
crow  and  nowhere  else,  just  to  show  us  what 
they  think  of  our  stupidity! 

Crows  live  in  towns,  or  rookeries,  as  they 
are  called,  except  when  they  are  nesting. 
Sometimes  thousands  come  together  in  a  single 
roost,  which  is  usually  a  pine  grove. 

They  are  thoroughly  organized,  having  their 
leaders,  which  correspond  to  the  generals  and 
captains  in  the  army,  and  also  their  sentinels 
who  give  warning  of  the  approach  of  danger. 
Perhaps,  as  you  were  going  through  the  woods, 

146 


THE  BAD  BIRD 


147 


you  have  seen  two  crows  suddenly  rise  up 
and  begin  to  caw  loudly.  Then  there  would 
be  answering  caws  in  the  distance.  The  two 
were  sentinels  giving  warning  of  your  approach. 

The  crows  have  regular  hours  too.  Reg¬ 
ularly  at  sundown  they  return  to  their  camps 
from  miles  around.  Indeed,  they  have  more 
regular  hours  than  many  children — they  go 
to  bed  earlier  and  get  lots  of  beauty  sleep. 

But  how  mischievous  they  are!  As  a  boy, 
I  had  a  tame  magpie,  which  was  a  great  thief, 
stealing  especially  thimbles  and  other  small 
articles.  I  have  often  wondered  why  mag¬ 
pies  were  such  thieves,  but  since  I  have  learned 
they  are  first  cousins  to  the  crow  I  am  not 
surprised. 

There  is  no  end  to  the  stories  told  about 
tame  crows.  One  that  I  read  of  liked  to  get 
out  into  the  yard  when  the  clothes  were  hung 
out  on  the  line  and  pull  out  every  clothespin^ 
carrying  each  one  to  the  roof  and  laying  it 
safely  away.  Of  course  that  would  let  the 
wet  garment  fall  in  the  dirt.  He  was  well 
scolded  for  his  mischief,  and  then  he  would 
fly  to  the  roof  and  throw  every  one  down  to 
the  ground  again. 

The  crow  is  not  all  bad,  though  he  steals  the 
farmer's  corn  so  that  the  farmer  gets  very 
angry  and  shoots  him;  he  stuffs  himself  and 


148  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


his  family  with  thousands  of  grubs,  insects, 
grasshoppers.  May  beetles,  mice,  and  other 
small  creatures  which  do  the  crops  lots  of 
damage.  Indeed,  some  claim  that  he  does  far 
more  good  than  harm,  and  cases  have  been 
known  where  he  has  saved  the  country  from 
a  plague  of  grubs  or  insects. 

But  you  see,  children,  when  you  get  the 
reputation  of  being  bad,  it  is  very  difficult 
to  get  rid  of  it.  At  least  that  is  what  Blacky, 
the  crow,  finds.  And  I  am  sorry  to  say  that 
in  spite  of  the  good  he  does,  that  in  spite  of 
his  kindness  to  his  own  little  fledglings,  he  is 
a  bad,  bad  bird.  Sometimes  I  think  his  heart 
is  as  black  as  his  feathers,  because  he  not 
only  eats  the  farmers’  chickens,  very  young 
turkeys,  and  eggs,  but — what  is  even  worse 
— the  eggs  and  babies  of  the  song  birds  which 
we  love.  Yes,  Mr.  Crow  is  a  bad,  bad  bird. 

As  we  come  to  the  close  of  our  study  of 
the  birds,  I  hope  you  have  been  so  interested 
that  you  will  now  study  them  for  yourselves. 
Do  not  forget  the  lessons  you  have  learned 
from  the  sparrow,  the  robin,  the  polite  bird, 
the  busy  bird,  and  the  bad  bird.  Above  all, 
do  not  forget  what  Jesus  taught  us,  that  just 
as  God  cares  for  the  birds,  so  that  not  even 
a  sparrow  falls  to  the  ground  without  his 
knowing  it,  so  will  he  care  for  us,  his  children. 


FLOWERS 


Flower  in  the  crannied  wall, 

I  pluck  you  out  of  the  crannies. 

I  hold  you  here,  root  and  all,  in  my  hand. 
Little  flower — but  if  I  could  understand 
What  you  are,  root  and  all,  and  all  in  all, 

I  should  know  what  God  and  man  is. 

— Tennyson.1 

1  Reprinted  by  permission  of  the  Macmillan  Company,  from  Tennyson’s 
Poetical  Works. 


XXXV 


THE  PANSY 

Everybody  loves  flowers.  All  over  the 
world,  in  India,  Persia,  China,  and  Japan, 
and  the  various  countries  of  Europe  as  well 
as  in  America,  you  will  find  the  children  so 
happy  when  they  can  go  out  into  the  garden 
or  into  the  woods  to  gather  flowers. 

What  a  desolate  world  this  would  be  with¬ 
out  flowers!  Why,  the  flowers  are  the  stars 
of  the  earth,  just  as  the  stars  are  the  flowers 
of  heaven.  I  think  that  the  poet  Longfellow 
must  have  had  this  in  mind,  when  he  said: 

“In  the  infinite  meadows  of  heaven 
Blossom  the  lovely  stars. 

The  forget-me-nots  of  the  angels.’’ 

An  old  legend  tells  us  that  at  one  time 
flowers  could  speak,  but,  because  of  some 
trouble,  they  became  dumb.  I  think  the  evil 
spirit’s  spell  must  be  broken  now.  The  flow¬ 
ers  are  speaking  to  us  all  the  time.  On  the 
next  few  Sundays  I  am  going  to  tell  you  some 
things  they  say. 

I  start  with  the  pansy — one  of  my  favorite 

151 


152  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


flowers.  To  me  it  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
flowers.  What  a  lovely  face  it  has,  so  frank, 
so  full  of  welcome  and  good  cheer,  that  one 
feels  like  sitting  down  beside  a  bed  of  pansies 
just  to  listen  to  what  they  have  to  say!  What 
do  they  say? 

First,  pansies  are  for  thoughts.  What  kind 
of  thoughts?  Why,  good  thoughts,  kind 
thoughts,  of  course.  So  the  first  thing  the 
pansy  says  to  you,  is  “Be  careful  of  your 
thoughts.  ”  By  and  by  your  thoughts  will 
reveal  themselves  in  your  face.  People  will 
be  able  to  tell  what  kind  of  thoughts  you  have 
and  what  kind  of  boys  and  girls  you  are.  The 
Scripture  says  that  “as  a  man  thinketh  in  his 
heart,  so  is  he. You  see,  your  thoughts  work 
themselves  out  in  deeds,  for  “sow  a  thought, 
reap  a  word,  sow  a  word,  reap  a  deed.”  There¬ 
fore, 

“Be  careful  how  you  work 

Your  pansy  bed  of  thoughts; 

For  as  the  soul  begins  to  think, 

So  will  its  deeds  be  wrought.” 

Secondly,  the  pansy  says,  “Be  friendly.” 
Some  flowers,  like  the  Easter  lily,  are  so 
stately  and  dignified  that  you  do  not  dare  to 
touch  them.  You  look  at  them  in  admiration 
from  a  distance.  But  the  pansies  are  so  dif- 


THE  PANSY 


153 


ferent.  They  are  the  most  friendly  of  all  the 
flowers  God  has  given  us.  The  poor,  as  well 
as  the  rich,  can  grow  them.  They  are  to-day 
in  hundreds  of  poor  homes.  In  all  parts  of 
New  York  city  you  will  find  window  boxes 
full  of  pansies;  they  come  early  in  the  spring 
and  continue  to  bloom  until  the  fail;  we  like 
to  have  them  in  our  rooms  when  we  are  ill. 
Some  one  has  said:  “They  are  the  angel  eyes 
of  a  million  sick  rooms.”  Yes,  the  pansies 
are  friendly. 

To  help  you  remember  these  two  messages 
of  the  pansies  I  want  to  tell  you  a  little  story 
I  once  read.  A  charming  little  flower,  growing 
in  a  glen,  was  so  modest  that  she  slipped  into 
the  shadow  of  a  tall  leaf  before  opening  her 
blossoms.  The  little  gold  and  purple  beauty 
shed  her  delicate  perfume  and  kept  on  bloom¬ 
ing  in  this  hidden  nook,  and  no  one  saw  her, 
until  one  day  an  angel  from  heaven  was  fly¬ 
ing  by.  This  angel  had  been  sent  to  the  earth 
on  a  special  errand,  and  as  her  long,  white 
wings,  by  chance,  brushed  aside  the  tall  leaf, 
the  angel  saw  the  blossoms  of  purple  and  gold 
and  inhaled  the  exquisite,  delicate  perfume. 

“What  a  lovely  flower!”  cried  the  angel. 
“You  are  too  lovely  to  grow  unseen  in  the 
shadows.  You  are  worthy  to  bloom  in  the 
garden  of  heaven.  But  wait,  even  better  than 


154  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


that!  You  shall  be  the  angels’  blossoms  in  the 
land  of  man.  Go,  sweet  pansy,  bloom  in  every 
land.  Carry  to  all  people  sweet  thoughts  of 
love  and  peace.” 

The  angel  stooped  to  kiss  the  little  flower; 
and,  wonderful  to  relate,  from  the  little  blos¬ 
som,  a  tiny  angel  face  looked  out.  Haven’t 
you  seen  it  there?  The  next  time  you  see  a 
pansy  bed  remember  to  look  for  the  angel 
faces  and  think  of  the  gentle  angel  whose  kiss 
was  kindness  and  love. 


XXXVI 


THE  CARNATION 
(Mother’s  Day) 

Long  years  ago,  in  southern  Europe,  there 
grew  wild  a  little  flower  in  the  crags  over¬ 
looking  the  sea.  Very  few  people  ever  saw  it, 
except  possibly  some  boys  and  girls  occasion¬ 
ally  as  they  gathered  wild  flowers,  just  as  we 
gather  wild  flowers  to-day. 

But  one  day  a  bird  plucked  its  seed  and 
flew  away  to  England  and  deposited  it  in  the 
rich  soil  there.  It  began  to  grow,  and  one 
who  loved  flowers  and  understood  them  dis¬ 
covered  it  and  saw  in  it  wonderful  possibilities 
of  development.  So  he  I  took  it  home  and 
began  to  cultivate  it.  Others  did  the  same, 
and  now  there  are  three  hundred  varieties  of 
this  wild  pink — for  that  was  the  name  of  this 
little  flower. 

Its  name,  to-day,  is  “Carnation,”  and  there 
are  few  flowers  more  beautiful  or  more  last¬ 
ing.  To  some  it  is  the  most  beautiful  flower 
that  grows.  The  late  President  McKinley  was 
very  fond  of  the  carnation;  indeed,  it  was 

155 


156  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


his  favorite  flower,  and  he  seldom  was  seen 
without  one  in  the  lapel  of  his  coat.  Very 
often,  when  he  saw  a  boy  or  girl  looking  at 
the  carnation  with  longing  eyes,  he  would  give 
the  flower  with  a  smile.  At  one  time  a  mother 
took  her  boy  to  see  the  sights  of  the  White 
House.  Of  course  he  was  very  anxious  to 
see  the  President,  as  every  boy  is.  When  the 
mother  spoke  to  the  guard,  he  replied,  “Mr. 
McKinley  is  very  fond  of  children  and  I  am 
sure  he  would  be  glad  to  shake  hands  with 
your  boy.”  So  the  mother  and  her  son  were 
presented  to  the  President.  The  President 
spoke  very  kindly  to  the  boy  and  then  gave 
him  the  carnation  from  his  lapel,  expressing 
the  hope  as  he  did  so,  that  he  might  grow  up 
to  be  a  great  honor  to  his  parents. 

This  is  the  flower  that  has  been  chosen  for 
Mother’s  Day,  and  thousands  of  people  all 
over  the  country  will  wear  either  a  pink 
carnation  in  honor  of  the  mother  who  is  still 
alive,  or  a  white  carnation  in  honor  of  a  mother 
who  has  gone  to  heaven. 

But  what  does  the  carnation  say  to  us? 
For  what  does  it  stand  in  the  language  of 
the  flowers? 

First,  it  represents  courtesy.  The  great 
poet  Shakespeare  describes  it  as  “The  very 
pink  of  courtesy,”  using  the  old-fashioned 


THE  CARNATION 


157 


name.  So,  as  we  wear  the  carnation  on 
Mother’s  Day,  it  says  to  us,  “Be  courteous — 
be  courteous  at  home  as  well  as  at  school  or 
in  society.”  So  many  boys  and  girls,  you 
know — yes,  and  some  grown-ups  as  well — think 
they  can  say  and  do  anything  at  home.  They 
never  say  “Please”  or  “Thank  you,”  and  they 
even  forget  to  stand  up  when  mother  enters 
the  room.  So,  to-day,  the  carnation,  which 
we  are  wearing  in  honor  of  mother,  says  to  us, 
“Be  courteous  at  home  among  those  whom 
you  love.” 

But  the  carnation  also  says  to  us,  “Show 
your  love  for  your  mother,  not  only  once  a 
year  by  wearing  me,  but  by  being  obedient, 
kind,  and  thoughtful  the  whole  year  through.” 

A  little  girl  was  trudging  along  with  a  pail 
of  -water.  “So  many  times  had  she  passed 
our  gate  that  morning,”  says  the  lady  who 
was  telling  the  story,  “that  curiosity  prompted 
us  to  say,  ‘You  are  a  very  busy  little  girl  to¬ 
day.’  ‘Yes’m.’  The  round  face  under  the 
broad  hat  turned  toward  me.  It  was  freckled 
and  perspiring,  but  cheerful.  ‘Yes’m,  it  takes 
a  heap  of  water  to  do  a  washing.’ 

“  ‘And  do  you  bring  it  all  from  the  brook 
down  there?’ 

“  ‘Oh,  we  have  a  cistern  mostly,  only  it’s 
been  dry  lately.’ 


158  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


“  ‘And  is  there  nobody  else  to  carry  the 
water?’ 

“  ‘Nobody  but  mother,  and  she’s  washing.’ 

“  ‘Well^you  are  a  good  girl  to  help  her.’ 

“I  intended  to  compliment  her  when  I  said 
that,  but  she  turned  to  me  with  a  look  of  sur¬ 
prise  in  her  gray  eyes,  and  an  almost  indignant 
tone  in  her  voice,  as  she  answered:  ‘Why,  of 
course,  I  help  her  to  do  things  all  the  time. 
She  hasn’t  anybody  else.  Mother’n  I  are 
partners!’  ” 

If  you  and  mother  are  partners,  boys  and 
girls,  every  day  will  be  Mother’s  Day. 


XXXVII 


THE  LILY 

God  loves  beauty,  and,  if  what  Abraham 
Lincoln  says  is  true,  that  4 "God  must  love 
the  common  people  because  he  made  so  many 
of  them,'’  we  know  he  must  love  the  flowers 
because  there  are  so  many  of  them.  Some 
one  has  said  that  ""God  smiled  on  the  earth, 
and  the  earth  smiled  back  in  flowers.”  One 
of  these  flowers  was  the  lily. 

The  lily  family  is  so  large  that  it  is  difficult 
to  state  just  where  it  begins  and  where  it  ends. 
It  has  various  colors — white,  orange,  buff,  red, 
and  crimson.  It  is  also  very  old.  If  you  go 
back  to  ancient  times — very  ancient  times — 
you  will  find  the  lily  carved  on  the  pillars  of 
the  temples.  In  Eastern  countries  they  still 
use  the  dried  lily  for  food.  I  am  told  that  if 
you  boil  or  roast  it,  it  loses  its  bitter  taste 
and  becomes  sweet. 

I  want  to  speak  this  morning  of  the  white 
lily.  We  think  of  three  different  kinds — a 
large  lily  like  the  Easter  or  calla  lily,  the  lily 
of  the  valley,  and  the  water  lily. 

The  calla  lily  comes  originally  from  South 

159 


160  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 

« 

America  and  is  a  very  common  cultivation. 
The  Easter  lily,  which  we  use  so  much  at 
Easter  time,  comes  from  Bermuda,  and  is 
familiar  to  you  all.  The  lily  of  the  valley  is 
not  the  lily  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  but  it  is 
a  beautiful  little  flower  which  grows  in  our 
gardens.  The  water  lily,  as  you  know,  grows 
on  ponds  and  lakes.  We  may  fittingly  call  it 
“the  queen  of  the  water”  as  it  floats  majes¬ 
tically  on  the  surface  of  the  water  in  a  field 
of  waxy  green  leaves.  At  night  the  water 
lily  folds  her  petals  and  sinks  out  of  sight  to 
rise  again  in  the  morning.  A  pretty  Indian 
legend  recalls  the  origin  of  the  flower  in  a 
falling  star,  which,  when  striking  the  water, 
was  changed  into  the  water  lily. 

There  are  two  qualities  in  these  three  differ¬ 
ent  kinds  of  lilies  which  I  have  mentioned 
that  I  think  of  whenever  I  look  at  them — 
their  purity  and  their  sweetness. 

First,  their  purity.  White  stands  for  purity, 
you  know.  “Keep  thyself  pure”  the  lily  is 
always  saying  to  us,  and  I  hope  that  we  will 
listen  to  its  voice.  Some  time  you  will  hear 
it  said  of  a  certain  person,  “His  was  the  whitest 
soul  ever  known;  he  was  the  flower  of  a  blame¬ 
less  life.”  Do  you  know  that  men  can  never 
say  anything  about  you  more  beautiful  than 
that?  So  the  lily  is  God’s  messenger  in  white, 


THE  LILY 


161 


come  to  sing  to  us  from  morning  until  night 
her  song  of  purity. 

Then,  of  all  flowers  the  lily,  especially  the 
water  lily,  is  one  of  the  most  fragrant.  As 
white  suggests  purity,  so  fragrance  suggests 
kindness  Paul,  the  apostle,  has  said  that 
4 'kindness  to  each  other  is  an  odor  of  a  sweet 
smell  pleasing  to  God.”  Yes,  fragrance  or 
kindness  is  surely  a  worthy  object  in  life.  That 
is  what  we  ought  to  try  to  do,  to  diffuse  frag¬ 
rance  by  what  we  say  and  what  we  do. 

This  little  story  will  explain  what  I  mean. 
A  Quaker  lady  and  a  little  girl  were  sitting 
together  in  a  car  when  the  little  girl  said  to 
the  old  lady,  who  was  an  entire  stranger  to 
her,  "Do  let  me  kiss  you.” 

"Yes,  my  dear,  certainly,”  was  the  reply. 

Then  they  began  to  talk  to  each  other,  and 
a  very  firm  friendship  began.  One  day,  after¬ 
ward,  the  girl  said,  "Were  you  surprised  that 
day,  when  I  asked  you  to  let  me  kiss  you?” 

"Oh,  no,  dear,”  she  replied,  "they  often 
ask  me  that.” 

You  see,  children,  the  purity  and  sweetness 
of  her  life  shone  from  her  face  and  made  her 
so  winsome  that  people  could  not  help  wish¬ 
ing  to  kiss  her.  Some  people  are  just  the 
opposite — they  repel  you  instead  of  attracting 
you. 


162  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


So  I  want  you  to  remember,  whenever  you 
see  the  lily,  that  you  also  are  put  here  to 
become  beautiful  in  every  part  of  your  life. 
Ask  the  Lord  Jesus  to  help  you  make  your  life 
a  garden  where  grow  the  flowers  of  God — 
purity,  sweetness,  love,  joy,  and  peace. 


XXXVIII 


THE  POPPY 
(Memorial  Sunday) 

Yesterday  wherever  you  went,  you  saw 
poppies  for  sale,  and  to-day,  Memorial  Sun¬ 
day,  and  next  Tuesday,  Memorial  Day,  hun¬ 
dreds  and  thousands  of  people  will  wear  the 
poppy  in  honor  of  our  soldier  boys. 

Do  you  know  why  the  poppy  has  been 
chosen  as  the  Memorial-Day  flower?  Because 
it  grew  so  plentifully  in  Flanders  and  in  France, 
where  so  many  of  the  battles  of  the  World 
War  were  fought.  So  our  boys  learned  to 
love  it. 

The  poppy  family  is  not  quite  so  large  as 
the  lily  family,  but  still  there  are  several 
members  of  it.  There  are  the  double  poppies 
which  grow  in  our  gardens,  and  the  single 
poppies  which  grow  wild  in  the  fields  where 
they  seem  to  be  so  much  at  hojne.  The  petals, 
you  notice,  are  just  like  little  skirts,  especially 
when  they  blow  in  the  wind.  All  the  poppies, 
however,  do  not  wear  scarlet  skirts,  for  some 
are  white,  some  are  purplish  blue,  and  some 
are  bright  yellow.  In  far-off  India  they  grow 
great  fields  of  poppies  in  order  to  use  the  juice 

163 


164  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


for  making  a  kind  of  medicine.  So,  you  see, 
the  poppies  are  useful  as  well  as  ornamental. 

Whenever  you  see  poppies  growing,  whether 
in  the  gardens,  or  in  the  fields,  they  are  always 
playing  with  the  breezes.  Somehow  they 
seem  so  happy  and  cheerful.  Red,  you  know% 
is  a  cheerful  color,  whether  it  be  decorating  a 
room  or  in  mother’s  hat.  I  think  that  one 
reason  why  our  soldiers  like  the  poppy  is 
because  it  has  such  a  cheerful  appearance. 

One  of  the  chaplains  wrote  home  during  the 
war,  describing  how  one  evening  he  was  riding 
back  from  the  front  line  into  the  country  and 
he  marveled  at  the  beauty  of  the  landscape. 
His  way  lay  through  countless  acres  of  corn- 
land.  By  and  by  he  came  to  the  second  line 
of  defense.  Millions  of  feet  of  barbed  wire 
had  been  twisted  into  an  impassable  network 
of  spikes.  If  the  front  line  gave  way,  then  the 
soldiers  could  retire  behind  the  barbed  wire 
and  the  enemy  pursuing  them  would  be  caught 
on  the  spikes.  But,  he  said,  this  evening,  to 
his  great  surprise,  the  barbed  wire  was  a  mass 
of  green  and  scarlet,  where  the  grass  had 
grown  unchecked  and  innumerable  poppies 
lifted  up  their  heads  to  cover  with  beauty  the 
ugly  and  threatening  spikes.  In  the  little 
cemetery,  near  at  hand,  poppies  were  flutter¬ 
ing  their  crimson  wings  over  every  grave.  And 


THE  POPPY 


165 


it  all  had  such  a  happy,  cheerful  appearance 
that  no  one  would  have  dreamed  that  a  terri¬ 
ble  war  was  going  on  just  a  short  distance 
away. 

The  poppy,  then,  stands  for  cheerfulness, 
and  I  think  it  is  a  most  appropriate  Memorial- 
Day  flower  for  this  reason,  because  all  who 
saw  the  soldier  boys  and  associated  with  them 
spoke  of  their  cheerfulness  under  difficulties 
and  hardships.  In  the  rain,  the  cold  and  the 
mud,  they  joked,  whistled,  and  sang.  Of 
course  sometimes  they  were  sad  and  dis¬ 
couraged,  but  they  would  encourage  each 
other  by  singing, 

“Pack  up  your  troubles  in  your  old  kit-bag, 
And  smile,  smile,  smile!” 

So  the  poppy  says,  4 ‘Be  cheerful  even  though 
you  do  not  feel  like  it.” 

Then,  too,  the  scarlet  poppy  is  a  most 
appropriate  flower  for  Memorial  Day  because 
of  its  color.  Just  as  in  our  flag,  so  here  the 
red  stands  for  blood  and  sacrifice.  And  when 
you  wear  this  poppy  on  Memorial  Day  I  want 
you  to  remember  the  boys  who  suffered  and 
died  in  France  for  our  country  and  for  us, 
and  ask  God  to  help  you  grow  up  to  be  worthy 
citizens  of  this  country  for  which  they  gave 
their  lives. 


XXXIX 


THE  EORGET-ME-NOT 
(Communion) 

The  forget-me-not  is  a  sweet,  bonnie  flower. 
Like  the  pansy,  it  is  a  garden  flower  and  blos¬ 
soms  all  through  the  summer.  But,  unlike  the 
pansy,  it  also  grows  wild  in  low,  marshy  soil 
on  the  banks  of  streams.  It  is  different  from 
the  pansy  in  that  its  leaves  grow  right  on  the 
stems  of  the  flowers,  which  seem  to  look  up 
at  one  so  trustingly  with  their  blue  eyes. 

Did  you  notice  the  shape  of  the  leaves? 
The  ancient  Greeks  called  this  flower  “mouse’s 
ear,”  because  they  said  the  leaf  looked  like 
a  mouse’s  ear.  But  we  like  our  own  name 
best — “forget-me-not .  ’  ’ 

We  have  been  listening  the  last  few  Sun¬ 
days  to  what  the  various  flowers  tell  us  and 
trying  to  understand  their  language.  Now,  in 
their  language,  the  forget-me-not  stands  for 
true  love  and  constancy,  just  as  the  white  lily 
stood  for  purity. 

Listen  to  this  story  which  comes  to  us  from 
far-off  Persia: 

“One  morning,  when  the  world  was  very 

166 


THE  FORGET-ME-NOT 


167 


young,  an  angel  sat  outside  the  gates  of  par¬ 
adise  weeping. 

"  ‘Why  do  you  weep?’  asked  another  angel 
who  passed  that  way.  'The  world  is  so  beau¬ 
tiful  and  paradise  near/ 

"  'But  I  cannot  enter  paradise  for  a  long 
time/  said  the  weeping  angel. 

"  'Why  not?*  asked  the  other.  'It  is  only 
a  few  steps  to  the  gate/ 

"Then  the  angel  who  wept  pointed  to  the 
earth  where  a  maiden  was  stooping  over  the 
grasses  by  the  side  of  a  stream. 

"  'Do  you  see  those  tiny  blue  flowers  she  is 
planting?  How  like  her  they  are!  So  dainty 
and  each  with  blue  eyes  and  a  heart  of  gold! 
Now,  I  love  that  maiden,  but,  because  she  is 
an  earth-maiden,  they  would  not  allow  us  to 
enter  paradise  together,  and  I  cannot,  will 
not  go  in  without  her.  So  they  gave  her  a 
task  to  perform  and  when  she  has  completed 
it,  she  may  enter  in  with  me.  And  that  task 
is,  that  she  must  plant  a  little  blue  flower  in 
every  corner  of  the  earth.  That  is  why  I 
sit  and  weep/ 

"  'But  I  know  of  a  better  plan  than  that/ 
said  the  other  angel,  and  he  whispered  it  in 
his  ear. 

"Then  the  angel  who  wept  flew  down  to  the 
earth  where  the  maiden  was  planting  these 


168  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


dainty  flowers.  He  went  down  to  help  her, 
and  hand  in  hand  they  wandered  over  the 
earth  until  they  had  planted  the  little  blue 
flowrers  everywhere.  Then,  when  the  task  was 
finished,  with  the  wreaths  of  forget-me-nots 
all  about  them,  the  angel  took  the  gentle 
earth-maiden  and  flew  with  her  to  the  gates 
of  paradise  which  swung  wide  open  to  them.” 

But  how  did  the  forget-me-not  receive  its 
present  name?  That  is  a  very  interesting 
story.  It  is  told  in  a  little  poem. 

“When  to  the  flowers  so  beautiful, 

The  Father  gave  a  name, 

Back  came  a  little  blue-eyed  one 
All  timidly  it  came; 

“And,  standing  at  its  Father’s  feet. 

And  gazing  in  his  face, 

It  said,  in  low  and  trembling  tones. 

And  with  a  modest  grace, 

“  ‘Dear  God,  the  name  thou  gavest  me, 

Alas,  I  have  forgot.’ 

Kindly  the  Father  looked  on  him 
And  said,  ‘Forget  me  not.’  ” 

That  is  what  God  is  saying  to  us  every 
day,  not  only  through  this  beautiful  little 
blue  flower,  but  through  all  the  other  flowers 
as  well.  Then,  too,  there  are  many  reminders 


THE  FORGET-ME-NOT 


1G9 


of  God’s  love  and  care  all  about  us  which  are 
saying  the  same  thing.  The  beautiful  sky 
with  the  wonderful  clouds  which  God  hath 
made,  says,  “Forget  me  not.”  The  stars,  which 
Longfellow  called  the  “forget-me-nots  of  the 
angels,”  are  saying,  “Forget  me  not.”  The  food 
which  God  hath  given  our  parents  strength  to 
provide  for  us,  is  saying,  “Forget  me  not.” 
How  many  of  you  heard  the  church  bell  this 
morning?  Do  you  know  wdiat  it  said?  It 
said,  “Come  to  church  and  worship  me;  forget 
me  not.”  And  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord’s 
Supper,  wdiich  w7e  observe  this  morning,  says, 
“Forget  me  not.”  The  bread  stands  for  the 
body  of  Jesus,  and  the  wine  for  his  blood. 
They  are  to  remind  us  of  his  death  on  the 
cross.  Every  time  we  partake  of  this  sacra¬ 
ment  it  says:  “Forget  me  not — forget  not 
that  I  loved  you  so  much  that  I  died  for  you. 
I  want  you  to  love  and  serve  me  in  return.” 

That  is  what  God  is  saying  to  us  to-day 
through  this  little  blue  flower. 


XL 


THE  DAISY  AND  ITS  BIG  BROTHER 

(Children’s  Day) 

What  is  this  simple  round  flower  with  its 
white  collar  and  golden  heart?  Why,  the 
daisy,  of  course!  Everyone  knows  the  daisy, 
for  from  May  till  November  the  fields,  meadows, 
and  roadsides  are  just  covered  with  daisies. 

The  daisy  is,  above  all  others,  the  children’s 
flower.  Every  girl  and  many  of  the  boys  have, 
I  am  sure,  made  daisy  chains  at  some  time 
or  another.  Not  only  do  children  make  daisy 
chains,  for  during  the  annual  graduation  exer¬ 
cises  of  Vassar  College  the  young  women  carry 
the  famous  daisy  chain — a  rope  made  from 
many  thousands  of  daisies.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  parts  of  their  graduation  exer¬ 
cises.  On  Memorial  Day  the  school  children 
make  wreaths  of  daisies  to  decorate  the  sol¬ 
diers’  graves,  and,  of  course,  no  Children’s 
Day  is  complete  without  them. 

Then  you  can  play  games  with  the  daisies. 
Did  you  ever  see  the  girls  pluck  away  the 
petals,  one  by  one,  to  determine  what  kind  of 
a  husband  they  will  have? 

170 


THE  DAISY 


171 


“Rich  man,  poor  man,  beggar  man,  thief. 
Doctor,  lawyer,  merchant,  chief.” 

Yes,  the  daisy  belongs  to  the  children,  who 
love  it. 

Do  you  know  the  daisy  has  a  big  brother? 
He  looks  like  him  too,  only  he  is  fifty  times 
bigger.  Sometimes  he  grows  to  be  seven  feet 
tall.  His  yellow  collar  is  made  up  of  many 
petals  arranged  just  like  the  daisy’s  white 
collar,  and  his  heart  is  also  round  just  like 
the  daisy’s,  and  both  of  them  reach  up  toward 
the  sunshine.  Who  knows  the  name  of  the 
daisy’s  big  brother?  That’s  right!  The  sun¬ 
flower!  It  is  called  the  “sunflower”  because  it 
always  looks  toward  the  sun,  no  matter  in 
what  part  of  the  heavens  the  sun  may  be. 

But  what  do  the  daisy  and  his  big  brother 
have  to  say?  We  have  listened  to  the  other 
flowers,  and  surely  they  too  have  a  message 
for  us  on  this  Children’s  Day.  Yes,  they  tell 
us  we  must  be  happy  and  contented,  and  try 
to  make  the  world  beautiful  wherever  we  are, 
just  as  they  do.  They  grow  not  only  in  the 
field  and  in  the  meadow  but  on  the  roadside 
where  the  ground  is  very  hard  and  stony,  and 
away  up  on  the  side  of  the  mountain  where 
no  other  flowers  will  grow.  We  do  not  notice 
the  rocks,  however,  when  the  daisies  are  there 


172  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


with  their  sweet  smiles,  but  we  say  to  each 
other:  “How  lovely  these  daisies  are!  I  am 
awfully  glad  I  saw  them."5  Now  you  children 
can  be  like  that. 

“If  I  a  little  girl  could  be. 

Well — just  like  you. 

With  lips  so  rosy,  cheeks  as  fair. 

Such  eyes  of  blue,  and  shining  hair. 

What  do  you  think  I’d  do? 

“I’d  wear  so  bright  and  sweet  a  smile, 

I’d  be  so  loving  all  the  while, 

I’d  be  so  helpful  with  my  hand, 

So  quick  and  gentle  to  command, 

You  soon  would  see, 

That  everyone  would  turn  to  say, 

‘  ’Tis  good  to  meet  that  child  to-day.’ 

Yes,  yes,  my  dear;  that’s  what  I’d  do, 

If  I  were  you.’’1 

But,  bright-eyed  daisy,  won’t  you  tell  us, 
please,  how  we  can  always  be  happy  and  con¬ 
tented  like  you? 

“Yes,”  replies  the  daisy.  “Do  like  my  big 
brother  and  I,  and  always  keep  your  hearts 
open  toward  the  sunshine.” 

How  can  we  do  that?  By  coming  to  church 
and  Sunday  school  to  learn  about  Jesus,  for 
he  is  our  sunshine.  He  is  the  “Light  of  the 


1  Independent.  Used  by  permission. 


THE  DAISY 


173 


world,”  and  when  he  comes  into  our  hearts 
with  his  love  he  makes  us  so  happy  that  we 
want  others  to  know  about  him  and  be 
happy  too. 

That  is  why  on  Children’s  Day  we  give  our 
money  to  build  Sunday  schools  so  that  other 
boys  and  girls  who  never  before  had  the  oppor¬ 
tunity — and  there  are  many  of  them  in  our 
country — may  learn  about  Jesus  too  and  have 
sunshine  in  their  hearts. 


XLI 


THE  ROSE 

The  rose  is  one  of  the  best  known  of  all 
flowers.  Men  have  sung  its  praises  in  many 
languages,  from  long,  long  ago  until  now — 
Egyptians,  Greeks,  Romans  of  olden  times, 
and  Turks,  Frenchmen,  Italians,  Britishers,  and 
Americans  of  modern  times.  One  legend  says 
it  actually  came  down  from  heaven,  it  is  so 
b^utiful. 

The  rose  is  also  famous  for  its  fragrance. 
One  of  the  most  costly  perfumes  in  the  world 
is  attar  of  roses,  made  from  rose  petals — and, 
by  the  way,  it  takes  ten  tons,  twenty  thousand 
pounds,  of  rose  petals  to  make  one  pound  of 
this  precious  oil.  What  a  wonderful  flower 
the  rose  is,  and  how  we  love  it!  So  this  morn¬ 
ing,  I  want  to  talk  to  you  about  it. 

First,  see  this  bud.  It  looks  so  small  and 
insignificant,  does  it  not?  It  scarcely  seems 
possible  that  out  of  this  tiny  bud  will  come 
the  beautiful  rose.  Yet  it  is  true.  So  in  every 
child  there  is  promise  of  a  noble  and  good  life. 
Any  one  of  you  boys  may  grow  up  to  be  a 
second  George  Washington,  or  an  Abraham 

174 


THE  ROSE 


175 


Lincoln,  or  a  Theodore  Roosevelt,  and  any 
one  of  you  girls  a  second  Martha  Washington 
or  a  Florence  Nightingale. 

Rut  what  are  these  thorns  which  prick  one 
so?  Of  what  use  are  they?  Well,  scientists 
tell  us  that  they  help  to  sustain  the  shrub  in 
the  midst  of  other  plants  and  shrubs,  also 
that  they  act  as  a  sort  of  protection  against 
thieves.  If  we  are  in  any  danger  of  getting 
our  hands  all  full  of  thorns,  we  are  not  so  apt 
to  pick  them.  It  means  some  trouble  and 
often  much  discomfort  for  us  if  we  would  pick 
this  beautiful  dower. 

4 ‘There  is  no  rose  without  a  thorn,”  so  an 
old  saying  runs.  Certainly  that  is  true  of 
life,  boys  and  girls.  You  will  find  as  you  grow 
older  that  everything  really  worth  having  in 
this  world  is  gotten  by  some  pain.  The  lessons 
are  sometimes  hard,  and  it  seems  as  if  that 
problem  in  arithmetic  would  never  be  solved, 
and  you  throw  down  your  book  in  disgust. 
But  never  give  in.  “If  at  first  you  don’t  suc¬ 
ceed,  try,  try  again.”  Remember  that  there 
is  no  rose  without  a  thorn,  no  success  without 
perseverance. 

Perhaps  you  have  noticed  that  at  certain 
times  the  gardener  goes  out  with  his  shears  or 
his  knife  and  pjpunes  the  rose  tree.  Why? 
Won’t  that  kill  it?  Not  if  done  properly,  for 


176  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


the  strange  fact  is,  that  it  will  grow  all  the 
better.  The  weaker  a  rose  tree  is,  the  more 
they  prune  it,  to  make  it  grow  stronger. 

Sometimes,  boys  and  girls,  you  wonder  why 
father  and  mother  find  it  necessary  to  discipline 
you.  You  don’t  like  to  be  punished.  You 
don’t  like  to  do  the  hard  things.  You  don’t 
like  to  be  kept  indoors  while  the  other  chil¬ 
dren  are  playing.  But  some  day  you  will 
understand  that  all  of  this  was  necessary,  and 
that  your  fathers  and  mothers  loved  you  even 
when  they  punished  you.  And  you  will  grow 
up  better  men  because  your  parents,  or  your 
teachers,  disciplined  you,  just  as  the  rose  tree 
grows  better  when  the  gardener  prunes  it. 

If  you  have  ever  kept  rose  trees,  you  will 
know  that  there  are  certain  enemies  you  have 
to  fight  against  all  the  time  if  you  would  have 
the  rose  tree  grow.  Perhaps  one  of  the  most 
common  and  dangerous  is  a  little  green  fly 
( Aphis  Rosce).  It  robs  the  plant  of  its  sap, 
and  does  a  vast  amount  of  injury. 

One  reason  why  this  fly  is  so  dangerous  is 
because  it  multiplies  so  fast.  One  scientist 
has  shown  that  there  may  be  as  many  as  six 
millions  in  five  generations  from  one  female 
fly.  Then  again  this  fly  is  dangerous  because 
it  takes  on  the  color  of  the  tree  to  avoid  de¬ 
tection.  For  example,  if  the  tree  is  green,  then 


THE  ROSE 


177 


the  fly  becomes  green.  So  it  may  do  a  great 
deal  of  mischief  before  it  is  discovered. 

We  all  have  lots  of  little  enemies  to  fight 
against.  We  call  them  “little  sins.”  They 
may  not  seem  to  be  very  much — just  one  act 
of  disobedience,  just  one  wrong  word,  taking 
only  one  penny  that  does  not  belong  to  us, 
one  dishonest  thought — but  unless  they  are 
overcome,  they  will  grow  and  increase  just 
like  the  enemies  of  the  rose  tree,  and  before 
we  know  it  we  are  in  their  power.  Re  ware  of 
the  first  little  sin! 

So,  if  you  prune  the  rose  tree  when  it  is 
necessary,  drive  away  its  enemies,  and  last 
but  not  least,  see  that  it  gets  lots  of  sunshine, 
then  it  will  grow  and  blossom,  and  bring  joy 
and  gladness  into  man}^  lives.  Shall  we  try  to 
make  our  lives  beautiful  and  helpful,  and  like 
the  rose  be  God’s  messengers  to  the  world? 


PART  THREE 


SPECIAL  DAYS 


“What  hath  this  day  deserved,  what  hath  it  done, 
That  it  in  golden  letters  should  be  set 
Among  the  high  tides  in  the  calendar  ?” 

— Shakespeare . 


XLII 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  THE 
CHRISTIAN  GENTLEMAN 

(Washington’s  Birthday) 

A  little  boy,  when  being  held  up  to  see 
President  Washington,  exclaimed,  4 ‘Why,  he  is 
only  a  man!”  Washington,  hearing  this, 
smiled  at  the  child,  “Yes,  dear,  that  is  all.” 

In  years  gone  by,  historians,  in  their  endeavor 
to  show  respect  and  admiration  for  George 
Washington  and  what  he  did,  represented  him 
as  more  than  a  man.  Yet  he  was  a  man,  just 
as  Abraham  Lincoln,  and,  while  he  did  not 
tell  funny  stories  as  did  Lincoln,  those  who 
knew  him  best  loved  him.  He  was  not  only 
“first  in  war,  first  in  peace,”  but  also,  “first 
in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen.”  This  morn¬ 
ing  I  want  to  speak  to  you  about  him  as  a 
man  and  as  a  Christian  gentleman. 

A  gentleman  is  always  clean  and  neat  in 
personal  appearance.  He  is  courteous,  and 
above  all,  he  is  kind  and  thoughtful  of  others. 
George  Washington  met  all  of  these  require¬ 
ments.  When  he  was  a  boy  he  studied  with 

183 


184  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


the  Reverend  Mr.  Marye,  a  former  Huguenot 
minister,  who  took  a  few  pupils  in  Latin, 
French,  and  deportment.  He  taught  them  one 
hundred  and  eighteen  rules  of  deportment. 
Just  think,  boys  and  girls,  of  having  to  learn 
one  hundred  and  eighteen  rules  of  behavior. 
Here  are  some  of  them: 

“Keep  your  nails  and  teeth  clean,  without 
showing  any  great  concern  for  them.” 

“Only  undertake  what  you  can  perform, 
and  be  careful  to  keep  your  promise.” 

“Speak  not  evil  of  the  absent  one,  for  it  is 
unjust.” 

“Labor  to  keep  alive  in  your  breast  that 
little  spark  of  celestial  fire,  called  ‘conscience.’  ” 
We  could  all  learn  rules  like  that,  and  be 
better  for  them.  It  was  such  a  training  as 
this,  received  from  his  rector  and  from  his 
parents,  that  made  George  Washington  the 
perfect  gentleman  he  was. 

Then,  too,  George  Washington  was  kind  and 
thoughtful  of  others,  as  a  true  gentleman 
always  is.  Some  time  ago  I  read  a  story  about 
him  which  illustrates  this  point.  One  day, 
walking  in  the  streets  of  Philadelphia  with 
a  friend,  he  met  a  Negro,  who  bore  upon  his 
shoulder  a  heavy  burden.  Washington  stepped 
off  the  pavement  into  the  muddy  street  until 
the  Negro  had  gone  by. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON 


185 


4  4 Why  did  you  allow  that  darkey  to  crowd 
you  off  the  pavement?”  said  his  friend. 

4 ‘Crowd  me  off  the  pavement?”  said  Wash¬ 
ington.  44Look  at  his  bent  shoulders,  look  at 
the  perspiration  streaming  down  his  brow, 
think  of  the  hard  lines  of  that  man’s  life!  Ah, 
my  friend,  always  respect  the  burdened.” 

A  gentleman  always  respects  the  burdened. 
He  is  thoughtful  and  kind  to  little  children, 
to  ladies,  to  old  folk,  and  to  all  who  are  in 
need. 

Last  of  all,  Washington  was  a  Christian 
gentleman;  he  trusted  in  God  and  made  no 
secret  of  it.  Not  only  did  he  attend  church 
regularly,  but  many  times  during  that  winter 
when  his  army  was  at  Valley  Forge  he  would 
steal  away  alone  into  the  woods,  and  he  always 
came  back  with  a  cheerful  countenance.  His 
friends  wondered  at  this.  One  day  a  Quaker 
whose  name  was  Mr.  Potts  is  said  to  have  come 
upon  him,  accidentally,  in  the  woods,  kneel¬ 
ing  and  praying.  God  heard  Washington’s 
prayers  for  his  country,  for  his  soldiers,  and 
for  himself,  for  he  gave  them  strength  to 
endure  during  the  terrible  winter  at  Valley 
Forge,  and  later  brought  victory  to  their  army. 


XLIII 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 
(Lincoln’s  Birthday) 

Yesterday  was  Lincoln’s  Birthday,  so  this 
morning  I  want  to  talk  to  you  about  him. 

There  are  two  great  things  which  Abraham 
Lincoln  did  that  the  world  will  never  forget. 
Do  any  of  you  know  what  they  are?  Yes, 
he  freed  the  slaves  and  he  saved  the  Union. 
For  this  he  will  go  down  into  history  as  a 
great  man. 

But  Lincoln  was  a  good  man  as  well  as 
great,  and  this  is  the  reason  we  love  and  ad¬ 
mire  him  so  much.  The  more  you  read  and 
study  his  life  and  his  sayings,  the  more  you 
will  appreciate  him.  There  are  many  traits 
in  his  character  which  made  him  what  he  was, 
but  this  morning  I  can  speak  only  of  two — 
his  honesty  and  his  kindness. 

First,  honesty.  Do  any  of  you  boys  and 
girls  know  what  the  people  called  Abraham 
Lincoln?  Yes,  that  is  right,  4 'Honest  Abe.” 
Having  discovered  on  one  occasion  that  he  had 
taken  six  cents  too  much  from  a  customer, 
he  walked  three  miles  that  evening,  after  his 

186 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


187 


store  was  closed,  tired  as  he  was,  to  return  the 
money. 

At  another  time  Lincoln  was  postmaster  in 
a  very  small  office  in  Illinois.  After  a  while 
the  office  was  discontinued  and  there  was 
owing  to  the  government  seventeen  dollars  and 
a  few  cents.  Three  or  four  years  later,  when 
Lincoln  had  become  a  lawyer  at  Springfield, 
an  agent  of  the  Post-office  Department  entered 
his  office,  and  called  on  Lincoln  for  the  monev 
— apparently  the  government  had  forgotten  all 
about  it.  In  the  meantime,  Abraham  Lincoln 
had  been  fighting  bravely  against  poverty. 
His  friends  knew  this,  and  one  of  them,  who 
was  present  when  the  officer  came,  called 
Lincoln  from  the  room  and  offered  to  lend 
him  whatever  money  he  needed.  Lincoln 
smiled,  but  went  to  his  room  and  pulled  out 
a  little  old  trunk  which  he  opened.  In  this 
trunk  was  a  little  package  of  coins  which  had 
been  paid  by  the  people  who  had  bought  the 
stamps.  When  the  agent  left  the  room,  Lincoln 
remarked  quietly  that  he  never  used  any 
man’s  money  but  his  own.  Yes,  the  people 
knew  that  Abraham  Lincoln  could  be  trusted, 
and  even  his  political  enemies  never  doubted 
his  honesty. 

Secondly,  kindness  of  heart.  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  kind  to  birds  and  animals,  to 


188  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


little  children  and  old  people,  to  widows  and 
orphans,  to  soldiers,  and  even  to  his  bitterest 
enemies.  Many  are  the  stories  which  can  be 
told  illustrating  his  kindness.  I  have  selected 
one  that  is  not  quite  as  well  known  as  the 
others. 

One  day,  when  Lincoln  was  a  poor  young 
lawyer  in  Springfield,  he  was  going  to  his 
office,  when  he  saw  a  little  girl  crying  at  the 
door  of  her  home.  He  stopped  to  inquire  what 
was  the  matter  and  the  little  girl  sobbed  out 
her  story.  She  was  going  to  visit  a  little  friend 
in  another  town.  She  had  planned  for  it  and 
dreamed  of  it  for  weeks  and  the  expressman 
had  forgotten  to  come  for  her  trunk.  “Oh 
ho!”  he  cried,  “wipe  your  eyes  and  come  on 
quick!”  and  before  the  little  girl  knew  what 
he  was  going  to  do,  he  had  put  the  trunk  on 
his  shoulder  and  was  off  down  the  street.  She 
trotted  behind  him,  drying  her  tears  as  she 
went.  They  reached  the  station  in  time.  Mr. 
Lincoln  put  the  little  girl  on  the  train  and 
told  her  to  have  a  good  time.  “It  was  just 
like  him,”  she  said  in  later  years,  as  she  told 
the  story.  Yes,  it  was  just  like  him,  he  was 
never  too  busy  to  be  kind. 

Once  when  a  friend  remonstrated  with  him 
for  doing  so  much,  he  replied:  “I  want  it  to 
be  said  of  me  when  I  am  gone,  I  always  plucked 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


183 


a  thistle  and  planted  a  flower  wherever  a 
flower  would  grow.”  Let  us  take  that  for 
our  motto.  Perhaps  we  too  will  grow  up  to 
be  like  Abraham  Lincoln. 


XLIV 


THE  MEANING  OF  LENT 

This  is  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent,  and  as 
you  will  be  hearing  so  much  about  Lent,  I 
thought  you  would  like  to  know  what  it  means. 

The  word  “Lent”  formerly  had  a  different 
meaning  from  what  it  has  now.  It  came  from 
an  old  Saxon  word  “Lengten,”  meaning 
“spring.”  In  those  days  they  called  spring 
“Lengten”  because  the  days  began  to  grow 
longer  at  that  time.  By  degrees  “Lengten” 
was  shortened  until  it  became  “Lent.” 

Lent  begins  on  Ash  Wednesday,  as  it  is 
called,  and  lasts  forty  days,  not  counting  Sun¬ 
days.  Years  and  years  ago,  very  early  in  the 
history  of  the  church,  the  Christians  thought 
they  would  like  to  commemorate  the  forty 
days  when  Jesus  fasted  in  the  wilderness  and 
was  tempted  by  Satan,  so  they  began  to  ob¬ 
serve  Lent  for  that  purpose,  and  also  as  a 
preparation  for  Easter.  So  now,  all  over  the 
world,  Christians  observe  Lent. 

First,  Lent  is  supposed  to  be  a  time  of  self- 
denial  and  sacrifice.  Jesus  gave  up  all  food  for 

190 


THE  MEANING  OF  LENT 


191 


forty  days,  so  now  a  great  many  people  give 
up  meat,  sweets,  and  certain  pleasures  during 
Lent  in  remembrance  of  Jesus’  self-denial.  I 
think  that  it  is  a  good  thing  to  deny  ourselves, 
but  the  trouble  with  so  many  people  is  that 
they  think  that  if  they  sacrifice  during  Lent, 
they  can  indulge  themselves  all  the  rest  of 
the  year. 

What  does  sacrifice  mean?  It  means  giving 
up  something  you  really  like.  One  morning 
after  church  a  man  said  to  his  wife,  “The 
preacher  said  in  his  sermon  that  ‘religion  is 
worth  just  what  it  costs,’  and  I  have  deter¬ 
mined  to  give  up  something  for  religion  by 
denying  myself.” 

“What  will  you  give  up?”  she  asked. 

He  said  that  he  would  give  up  coffee,  as  he 
was  very  fond  of  it.  Then  the  wife  said  that 
she  would  give  up  something  for  Jesus  too. 
She  would  give  up  her  favorite  cup  of  tea. 
Then  the  daughter  said  she  would  give  up 
candy  and  some  of  her  other  pleasures.  The 
father  turned  to  his  son  Tom,  who  was  busy 
eating  all  the  time,  and  asked  him,  what  he 
would  give  up?  Tom  said:  “I’ll  give  up  fish. 
I  never  did  like  the  stuff  anyway.” 

But  that  was  not  sacrifice,  was  it?  No, 
sacrifice  is  giving  up  something  we  really  like. 
What  will  you  give  up  for  Jesus  this  Lent, 


192  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 

so  that  others  may  learn  to  love  him  as  you 
love  him? 

Secondly,  Lent  is  a  special  time  for  prayer. 
Jesus  is  about  to  begin  his  work  of  telling  men 
and  women  and  children  about  God  and  his 
love.  Before  he  starts  his  ministry,  he  goes 
into  the  desert  to  be  alone  for  forty  days. 
What  does  he  do  there?  Two  things  at  least. 
He  plans  and  he  prays.  He  plans  for  his 
future  work,  how  he  will  conduct  it  and  what 
he  will  do,  and  then  he  prays  God  to  help 
him  carry  out  his  plans.  While  the  Bible  does 
not  tell  us  this,  I  am  sure  that  Jesus  spent 
most  of  his  time  in  prayer.  That  was  one  of 
the  reasons  why,  when  the  devil  came  to  him 
at  the  end  of  the  forty  days  and  tempted  him, 
he  was  able  to  say,  “No.” 

So,  boys  and  girls,  I  want  you  during  Lent 
not  only  to  sacrifice — to  give  up  things  for 
Jesus — but  I  also  want  you  to  do  what  he  did 
in  those  forty  days — I  want  you  to  pray. 
Pray  not  only  for  your  father  and  mother  and 
your  dear  ones,  as  I  know  you  do,  but  pray 
also  for  your  Sunday  school,  for  your  church, 
for  your  pastor,  and  for  the  missionaries  in 
foreign  lands.  Pray  that  men  and  women, 
boys  and  girls,  will  give  their  hearts  to  Jesus 
and  learn  to  love  and  serve  him. 

“But,”  you  say,  “What  can  the  prayers  of 


THE  MEANING  OE  LENT 


193 


a  boy  or  girl  do?”  They  can  do  much.  Many 
years  ago  a  famous  preacher  was  accompanied 
by  a  little  blind  boy,  his  brother.  Whenever 
this  great  preacher  stood  in  the  pulpit  and 
people  wept  and  trembled  at  his  words,  close 
by  would  be  the  little  blind  child  with  his 
sightless  eyes  turned  upward  as  if  watching 
his  brother.  One  night  the  preacher  saw  a 
vision.  He  thought  an  angel  touched  him  and 
pointed  to  his  little  brother.  Then  he  saw  a 
stream  of  light  shining  on  the  boy’s  sightless 
eyes,  and  he  understood  that  it  was  not  his 
eloquent  words,  but  the  prayers  of  his  little 
blind  brother  which  had  wrought  such  won¬ 
derful  results.  If  you  pray  as  the  little  blind 
boy  did,  God  will  bless  your  prayers  as  he 
blessed  his. 


XLV 


PALM  SUNDAY 

It  was  Palm  Sunday.  Jesus,  riding  upon 
a  young  colt,  comes  in  triumph  from  the  little 
town  in  Bethany  across  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
down  through  the  valley  through  which  flowed 
the  brook,  Kedron,  then  up  the  steep  road 
which  leads  to  the  Temple. 

The  people  had  gone  forth  to  meet  him 
and  to  bring  him  in  like  a  king.  They  were 
so  full  of  enthusiasm  that  they  cut  palm 
branches  from  the  trees  and  waved  them  in 
the  air.  Some  of  the  people  spread  the  branches 
on  the  ground,  and  others,  who  had  no  branches, 
threw  down  their  coats  and  cloaks  for  a  carpet, 
so  the  king  could  ride  over  them.  So,  the 
people  going  before  and  others  following  after, 
accompanied  Jesus  right  into  the  courtyard  of 
the  Temple  and  filled  the  air  with  their  wel¬ 
come.  There,  Matthew  tells  us,  new  voices 
come  to  the  ear  of  Jesus.  A  company  of  chil¬ 
dren  take  up  the  refrain  and  shout,  “Hosanna 
to  the  Son  of  David.”  How  sweet  was  the 
sound  of  those  voices  to  Jesus!  For  he  loved 
children  and  the  children  loved  him. 

194 


PALM  SUNDAY 


195 


On  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd  there  were 
bad  men  who  hated  Jesus.  They  scowled, 
they  frowned  at  every  word  of  praise,  and  in 
a  few  days  they  were  shouting,  “Crucify  him! 
Crucify  him!”  But  I  am  so  glad  that  there 
were  no  children  among  them.  No  boys  and 
girls,  so  far  as  we  know,  cried,  “Crucify  him!” 
They  would  not  treat  a  friend  so  ill,  and  Jesus 
was  their  friend.  But  the  boys  and  girls  were 
there  right  at  his  feet,  on  that  Palm  Sunday, 
crying,  “Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David,”  and  in 
every  age  and  in  every  place  where  they  have 
heard  about  him  children  have  loved  Jesus 
and  sung  his  praises. 

How  many  of  you  would  have  liked  to  have 
been  in  Jerusalem  on  that  Palm  Sunday  long 
ago,  and  to  have  carried  a  palm,  and  to  have 
shouted  “Hosanna”  wTith  all  the  rest  of  the 
children?  Hold  up  your  hands.  Yes,  1  know 
you  all  would  have  liked  to  have  been  there! 
But  you  can  do  now  what  is  just  as  pleasing 
to  Jesus  as  that  was  in  those  days. 

First,  if  you  really  love  Jesus,  you  must 
show  it  by  being  happy  at  home,  at  school, 
and  at  play,  so  that  your  friends  will  say  with 
truth:  “Jennie  is  a  real  Christian.  She  never 
whines  nor  sulks,  but  is  just  bubbling  over 
with  happiness.  We  love  to  have  her  with 
us.”  If  your  friends  can  say  that  of  you,  boys 


190  STORY-SERMONS  EOR  JUNIORS 


and  girls,  then  you  are  praising  Jesus  by  your 
lives,  just  as  those  children  praised  him  who 
carried  a  palm  and  shouted  “Hosanna.” 

But  I  know  of  another  way  for  you  to  carry 
a  palm  and  shout  “Hosanna.”  Scholars  tell 
us  that  this  triumphant  procession  of  Jesus  on 
Palm  Sunday  was  a  prophecy  of  what  should 
be  in  the  future.  What  do  they  mean  by 
that?  They  mean  that  the  day  will  come 
when  men,  women,  and  children  everywhere 
will  worship  Jesus  as  King,  and  love  and  serve 
him.  Therefore,  if  you  can  do  anything  to 
help  other  boys  and  girls  to  love  Jesus  and 
be  his  disciples  (and  one  way  of  helping  is  by 
inviting  them  to  come  to  church  and  Sunday 
school,  where  they  will  hear  about  him),  if 
you  can  do  anything  to  help  missionaries  tell 
about  Jesus  by  giving  of  your  money  and 
praying  for  them,  then,  to  that  extent,  you 
are  like  the  children  in  the  Temple  courtyard 
at  Jerusalem  who  carried  palms  and  shouted 
“Hosanna.” 


XL  VI 


SPRINGTIME 

(Easter) 

‘Tor,  !o,  the  winter  is  past,  the  rain  is  over 
and  gone;  the  flowers  appear  on  the  earth; 
and  the  time  of  the  singing  of  birds  is  come.” 

A  poet  wrote  those  words,  one  who  loved 
the  flowers,  the  trees,  and  the  birds  as  I  hope 
you  all  do.  He  was  so  happy  because  spring¬ 
time  had  come  again — and  we  feel  happy  too. 
You  know,  of  all  the  seasons,  I  like  the  spring 
the  best;  don’t  you?  It  seems  to  me  to  be  the 
fairest  and  sweetest  of  them  all.  Oh,  yes, 
winter  is  all  right  with  its  sledding,  its  skating, 
snow-balling,  and  other  winter  sports,  but  there 
are  many  cold,  dreary  days. 

I  remember  how  happy  we  were  as  boys  in 
England  when  the  first  snowdrop  appeared. 
It  seemed  such  a  frail  little  thing  coming  up 
through  the  hard  ground,  sometimes  when 
there  was  snow  all  around.  The  chilling  north 
winds  would  blow7  upon  it,  the  sleet  would 
strike  it,  but  it  grew  bravely  on,  bringing  cheer 
to  all  who  saw  it.  It  brought  good  cheer  not 
only  because  it  wTas  beautiful  in  its  snowy 

197 


198  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


purity,  but  because  it  was  one  of  the  first 
heralds  of  spring — to  tell  us  that  winter  was 
almost  over  and  the  spring  was  nigh.  Then, 
very  soon, .we  children  would  go  out  into  the 
woods  and  search  for  primroses  and  bluebells. 
You  know  that  is  one  of  the  privileges  country 
children  have — they  can  search  for  the  trail¬ 
ing  arbutus  and  the  early  blue  violets,  and 
they  can  watch  for  Jenny  Wren,  the  little 
chippy,  and  the  robin  to  come  back.  When 
they  come  we  know  that  spring  is  really  here. 

Yes,  we  are  happy,  but  I  wonder  if  we  are 
also  thankful,  or  do  we  forget  to  say  “Thank 
you’5  to  God  for  making  the  world  so  beauti¬ 
ful.  You  know  Jesus  used  to  find  lessons,  or 
parables,  all  about  him — in  the  flowers,  in  the 
farmer  sowing  the  seed,  in  the  setting  sun, 
and  in  the  birds  flying  overhead.  Don’t  you 
think  we  could  find  a  parable  in  this  joyous 
springtime? 

First,  the  springtime  should  remind  us  of 
God  our  Father.  Every  flower  that  blooms 
has  a  message  from  him,  especially  in  the 
spring  when  the  flowers  first  appear.  He  seems 
to  be  saying  to  us  what  one  of  the  sweetest 
flowers  that  bloom  in  the  spring  and  early 
summer  says,  “Forget-me-not.”  Yes,  I  can 
hear  him  saying:  “I  watched  over  the  flowers 
during  the  long  winter  months  when  they 


EASTER  DAY 


199 


were  asleep,  and  now  I  have  brought  them  to 
life  again.  See  how  beautiful  they  are!  Let 
them  cheer  you  and  make  you  hopeful  and 
happy,  for  as  I  have  taken  care  of  them,  so 
will  I  not  forget  to  take  care  of  you.” 

Then  the  second  lesson  of  the  springtime  is 
an  Easter  lesson.  Some  one  has  said  that 
“The  spring  is  the  Easter  of  the  earth.”  Dur¬ 
ing  the  winter  the  trees  and  flowers  were  all 
apparently  dead.  The  trees  looked  just  like 
dry  sticks  as  they  bent  and  crackled  in  the 
winter’s  wind,  and  the  flowers  were  all  buried 
under  the  cold  ground.  But  now  the  trees  are 
beginning  to  awaken — to  send  forth  little 
green  shoots  and  buds — and  the  flowers  are 
breaking  through  the  earth  on  every  side. 
How  beautiful  are  they  in  their  many  colors! 
Yes,  it  is  a  lesson  of  Easter  time  that  spring 
brings,  for  just  as  the  flowers  have  sprung  up 
from  their  wintry  graves,  and  just  as  Jesus 
rose  from  the  grave  on  Easter  Day,  so,  one 
day,  we  and  all  our  dear  ones  shall  rise  again 
more  beautiful  than  ever  before. 


XLVII 


REMEMBER 
(Memorial  Day) 

We  all  know  what  this  word  means,  for 
father  and  mother  and  teachers  are  constantly 
saying  to  us,  “Now,  remember !” 

We  do  forget  so  soon — don’t  we? — not  only 
our  lessons,  but  the  kind  things  our  friends 
do  for  us.  We  are  not  alone  in  this,  for  men 
and  women  forget  too.  So  the  custom  of  hav¬ 
ing  Memorial  Day  has  sprung  up  in  order 
that  we  may  not  forget. 

In  Washington,  for  example,  the  great 
Washington  Monument  helps  us  to  remember 
our  first  President,  who  was  called  the  “Father 
of  his  Country.”  In  Boston,  the  fine  Bunker 
Hill  Monument  was  erected  so  that  we  might 
not  forget  the  famous  battle  of  Bunker  Hill 
— the  first  battle  in  the  W7ar  of  the  Revolu¬ 
tion.  On  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  is  a  beau¬ 
tiful  tomb  which  you  all  must  try  to  see,  for 
it  is  a  memorial  to  General  Grant,  the  famous 
general  of  the  Civil  War,  who  led  the  armies 
of  the  North  to  victory.  In  Arlington  Cem¬ 
etery  there  is  a  great  monument  erected  to 

200 


MEMORIAL  DAY 


201 


the  “Unknown  Dead/’  to  show  the  world,  that 
although  the  names  of  those  heroes  are  un¬ 
known,  their  country  does  not  forget  them. 
But  not  only  are  there  monuments  and  statues 
erected  in  memory  of  those  who  died  in  the 
Civil  War,  but  out  of  that  great  conflict  has 
come  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  all  days, 
“Memorial  Day.” 

Soon  after  the  war  ended,  men  and  women 
began  to  decorate  the  graves  of  the  soldiers 
with  flowers.  Of  course  it  was  in  the  spring 
when  the  blossoms  were  most  plentiful.  This 
suggested  the  idea  of  setting  one  day  apart 
throughout  the  whole  country  for  this  purpose. 
General  John  A.  Logan,  Commander  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  issued  an  order, 
naming  May  30,  1868,  “For  the  purpose  of 
strewing  with  flowers,  or  otherwise  decorating 
the  graves  of  comrades  who  died  in  defense 
of  their  country.”  Because  of  this  practice 
of  decorating  the  graves,  the  thirtieth  of  May 
has  been  called  “Decoration  Day,”  but  I  think 
that  “Memorial  Day”  is  a  much  finer  name, 
don’t  you?  It  signifies  to  the  whole  world 
that  it  is  our  “National  Day  of  Remembrance.” 

Very  few  of  the  Civil  War  veterans  are  now 
living,  for  it  is  a  long  time  since  the  Civil 
War,  but  even  when  all  the  heroes  are  gone 
we  will  continue  to  observe  Memorial  Day  to 


202  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


show  that  we  do  not  forget  what  those  brave 
soldiers  did  for  our  country. 

There  is  another  reason  now  for  observing 
Memorial  Day.  On  this  day  we  may  also 
pay  tribute  to  our  soldier  boys  who  died  in 
the  great  World  War.  We  have  our  Honor 
Rolls  on  which  all  their  names  are  written,  and 
our  Service  Flags — a  star  standing  for  each 
soldier  or  sailor.  On  many  of  the  Service  Flags 
there  are  gold  stars,  indicating  that  the  men 
whom  they  represent  did  not  come  back,  and 
never  will  come  back,  for  they  gave  up  their 
lives  for  their  country. 

On  this  Memorial  Day  let  us  remember 
them  also  and  pray  for  the  fathers  and  mothers, 
sisters  and  brothers,  wives  and  children  who 
miss  them.  In  addition  to  remembering  them 
on  Memorial  Day  we  must  show  that  we 
remember  them  by  being  true  to  our  flag,  the 
stars  and  stripes,  and  to  the  principles  for 
which  they  fought  and  died. 

“Whatever  else  the  whole  wide  world  may  do 
Be  true,  my  heart,  be  true!” 


XLVIII 


AND  THE  CHILD  GREW 
(Children’s  Day) 

“And  the  child  grew  and  waxed  strong  in 
spirit,  filled  with  wisdom,  and  the  grace  of 
God  was  upon  him.”  These  wTords,  boys  and 
girls,  were  spoken  concerning  the  child,  Jesus, 
as  he  lived  with  his  parents  in  Nazareth  until 
he  was  twelve  years  old,  when  he  went  up 
with  them  to  Jerusalem. 

After  Jesus  returned  from  Jerusalem  he 
continued  to  live  with  Joseph  and  Mary  until 
he  became  a  man.  During  that  time  it  was 
said  of  him,  that  “he  increased  in  wisdom  and 
stature,  and  in  favor  with  God  and  man.” 

Most  people  usually  think  of  Jesus  as  a  full- 
grown  man.  They  think  of  him  as  a  teacher 
and  preacher;  they  think  of  him  as  the  Great 
Physician,  healing  the  sick,  or  as  the  Wonder- 
TVorker  performing  many  miracles.  On  this 
Children’s  Day  I  want  you  to  think  of  him, 
not  as  a  man,  but  as  a  boy  like  you  boys. 

First,  Jesus  grew  physically  just  as  you  are 
growing.  He  was  a  real  boy,  and  he  joined 
with  other  boys  in  their  sports  and  in  their 

203 


204  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


games  and  in  their  pastimes  as  you  do;  and 
perhaps,  as  you  have  done  many  times,  he 
stood  against  the  door  and  measured  his 
height  to  find  out  how  much  taller  he  was 
than  at  the  last  measurement. 

Secondly,  we  are  told  that  “Jesus  waxed 
strong  in  spirit’  ’;  that  is,  he  grew  strong  in 
will-power,  in  character,  and  he  did  it  as  you 
will  do  it  by  being  obedient,  and  by  learning 
to  say  “No”  to  all  temptations. 

I  saw  a  beautiful  little  play  this  week  en¬ 
titled  “A  Little  Pilgrim’s  Progress,”  in  which 
the  little  pilgrim  was  on  his  way  to  the  city 
of  the  King.  At  the  wayside  inn,  kept  by 
Dame  Decision,  he  met  other  pilgrims  be¬ 
tween  whom  he  was  compelled  to  choose;  he 
wanted  Dame  Decision  to  do  it  for  him,  but 
she  said,  “No,  every  pilgrim  must  choose  for 
himself.”  So  later,  the  little  pilgrim  chose,  I 
am  glad  to  say,  the  right  companions,  and  by 
his  choice  strengthened  his  will  and  his  char¬ 
acter,  and,  like  Jesus,  he  waxed  strong  in 
spirit. 

Thirdly,  Jesus  “grew  in  wisdom.”  Because 
Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God  we  think  of  him  as 
knowing  everything,  and  do  not  realize  that 
as  a  little  boy  he  studied  his  letters  just  as 
you  did,  that  he  went  to  school,  and  doubt¬ 
less  he  had  many  hard  lessons  just  as  you  have. 


AND  THE  CHILD  GREW 


205 


He  did  not  give  up,  however;  he  persevered 
until  he  conquered  them  all.  Among  other 
things  he  committed  to  memory  verses  of 
Scripture,  many  of  which  he  used  later  when 
he  was  tempted,  just  as  I  suggested  that  you 
do,  when  I  spoke  to  you  on  the  Japanese 
proverb  ‘"Hear  no  evil.”  So  if  you  would 
grow  in  wisdom,  as  Jesus  did,  you  must  be 
faithful  in  your  lessons,  as  he  was,  and  always 
do  your  best. 

Fourthly,  Jesus  4 ‘grew  in  favor  with  God 
and  man.”  He  grew  in  favor  with  God  and 
man  because  of  his  unselfishness.  Nobody 
likes  a  selfish,  greedy  person,  but  we  love  an 
unselfish  person— one  who  is  always  thinking 
of  how  he  can  help  others.  Jesus  was  like 
that,  and  I  am  sure  he  began  when  he  was 
a  boy. 

“What  is  a  boy?”  a  visitor  asked  a  class, 
and  one  bright  little  fellow  answered,  “A  boy 
is  the  beginning  of  a  man.”  In  the  same  way, 
of  course,  a  girl  is  the  beginning  of  a  woman. 
So  if  you  boys  and  girls  want  to  be  like  Jesus 
wdien  you  grow  up,  you  must  begin  now  while 
you  are  boys  and  girls. 

Norman  Duncan,  in  his  storv  Doctor  Luke 
of  the  Labrador ,  tells  this  little  incident  of 
Doctor  Luke  when  he  was  a  boy. 

fi<  ‘She  sat  me  in  her  lap,’  said  the  Doctor. 


206  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


“Look  into  your  mother’s  eyes,  laddie,”  she 
said,  “and  say  after  me  this.”  And  then  she 
said  as  I  repeated  after  her,  word  by  word, 
“My  mother  looked  upon  my  heart  and  found 
it  brave  and  sweet — willing  for  the  day’s  work, 
and  harboring  no  shameful  thought.”  Again 
and  again  she  had  me  say  it  until  I  knew 
every  word  by  heart.  “Ah,”  said  she  at  last, 
“but  you’ll  forget.”  “No,  no!”  I  cried,  “I’ll 
not  forget!”  ’  ”x  And  it  was  because  he  did  not 
forget  that  he  became  the  famous  Doctor  Luke 
of  the  Labrador,  whom  everybody  loves,  and 
who  has  done  so  much  for  the  men,  women, 
and  children  there. 

If  yoif  keep  your  heart  “brave  and  sweet 
and  willing  for  the  day’s  work,  not  harboring 
any  shameful  thought,”  you,  too,  will  grow  as 
Doctor  Luke  grew,  as  Jesus  grew,  in  favor  with 
God  and  man.  So  let  us  repeat  those  words 
together  until  we  know  them. 

1  Fleming  H.  Revel!  Company,  publishers,  New  York  and  Chicago. 
Used  by  permission. 


XLIX 


HOW  THANKSGIVING  DAY  BECAME 
A  NATIONAL  HOLIDAY 

Just  three  hundred  years  ago,  in  1621,  our 
first  real  American  Thanksgiving  Day  was 
observed.  Do  you  know  the  story  of  the  first 
Thanksgiving  Day? 

Governor  Bradford,  the  governor  of  Massa¬ 
chusetts,  issued  a  proclamation,  setting  aside 
a  certain  day  4  Tor  thanksgiving  unto  God 
for  the  plenteous  harvest. 55  So,  after  attend¬ 
ing  church  and  listening  to  a  sermon — which, 
by  the  way,  was  much  longer  than  sermons 
are  to-day — the  colonists  and  friendly  Indians 
came  together  for  the  Thanksgiving  dinner. 
It  was  such  beautiful  weather  that  the  tables 
were  set  out  of  doors.  What  a  wonderful 
time  they  had,  with  wild  turkey,  pumpkin  pie, 
and  other  good  things!  For  you  know  the 
first  part  of  the  year,  before  the  harvest,  they 
almost  starved  to  death,  so  scarce  had  become 
their  food!  But  with  all  their  f eastings  and 
their  merry-makings  they  did  not  forget  to 
thank  God  for  the  abundant  crops  and  for 
helping  them  out  of  their  despair. 

207 


208  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


After  this  one  day  each  year  was  set  aside 
as  Thanksgiving  Day  in  New  England,  at 
which  time  the  governor  read  a  proclamation. 
There  was  always  a  church  service  and  the 
various  family  reunions.  President  Washington 
in  1789  issued  a  proclamation  setting  aside 
Thanksgiving  Day  for  the  whole  country  in 
acknowledgment  of  God’s  many  blessings  and 
favors,  and  especially  for  helping  them  to 
establish  a  government  of  their  own.  Follow¬ 
ing  Washington,  several  Presidents  issued  proc¬ 
lamations  at  different  times,  but  there  was  no 
regular  annual  Thanksgiving  Day. 

One  person,  more  than  anyone  else,  was 
responsible  for  Thanksgiving  Day  becoming  a 
national  holiday.  I  wonder  if  you  know  her 
name,  for  it  is  so  very  rarely  mentioned,  that 
few  people  do  know  it.  A  lady,  wdiose  name 
was  Mrs.  Sarah  Hale,  came  from  Boston  to 
Philadelphia,  to  edit  a  woman’s  magazine. 
She  had  always  lived  in  New  England  and 
had  observed  Thanksgiving  Day,  and  she  did 
not  want  the  custom  to  die  out,  so  she  sent 
letters  to  all  the  governors  of  the  States  and 
Territories,  asking  them  to  set  apart  the  last 
Thursday  in  November  for  a  national  Thanks¬ 
giving  Day.  At  first  they  did  not  pay  any 
attention  to  her,  but  year  after  year  she  wrote, 
until  finally  a  few  responded  to  her  request. 


THANKSGIVING  DAY 


209 


During  the  Civil  War  the  custom  lagged,  but 
Mrs.  Hale  was  persistent.  She  would  not 
allow  it  to  be  forgotten,  so  she  kept  writing 
to  the  governors  and  others  about  it.  After 
the  battle  of  Gettysburg  she  wrote  to  Pres¬ 
ident  Lincoln  and  suggested  that  he  appoint 
a  national  holiday  of  thanksgiving.  This  he 
did,  and  ever  since  then  each  President  has 
set  apart  the  last  Thursday  in  November  for 
national  thanksgiving,  and  has  written  a  proc¬ 
lamation  in  which  he  mentioned  the  things  for 
which  we  are  to  be  thankful.  That  is  the 
story  of  how  Thanksgiving  Day  became  a 
national  holiday  for  all. 

Next  Thursday  will  be  our  national  Thanks¬ 
giving  Day  for  this  year.  For  what  ought  we 
to  give  thanks?  There  are  so  many  things 
that  I  cannot  mention  them  all,  but  this 
morning  I  want  you  to  give  thanks  for  the 
everyday  blessings.  Let  us  repeat  together, 
“We  thank  God  for  our  everyday  blessings/’ 
Instead  of  forever  complaining  about  the  things 
you  have  not  appreciate  the  things  you  do  have. 

One  night  a  little  girl  was  describing  what 
each  member  of  the  family  liked.  The  mother 
liked  so  and  so,  and  the  brother  and  elder 
sister,  and  finally  it  came  to  father’s  turn  to 
be  described,  and  he,  laughingly  asked,  “And 
what  do  I  like,  Nancy?” 


210  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


“Oh,”  said  the  little  girl,  slowly—4 cwell, 
daddy,  you  like  most  everything  we  haven’t 

got.” 

I  want  you  to  appreciate  the  things  that 
you  do  have.  Your  eyesight,  for  example;  or 
did  you  ever  think  that  you  ought  to  be  thank¬ 
ful  for  the  pencils  and  pens  with  which  you 
write,  and  for  the  paper  on  which  you  write? 
If  you  go  back  to  the  Pilgrims,  or  even  to  the 
time  of  the  Revolutionary  days,  you  will  find 
that  boys  and  girls  did  not  have  these  con¬ 
veniences.  Henry  Clay,  the  great  orator, 
learned  to  write  by  filling  a  box  with  sand 
and  tracing  letters  with  a  pointed  stick,  and 
Daniel  Webster  plucked  his  pen  out  of  the 
wings  of  a  pet  goose  and  made  ink  out  of  the 
soot  scraped  from  the  fireplace.  They  never 
dreamed  of  fountain  pens  and  pencils  such  as 
we  have  to-day.  If  you  are  in  New  YTork  and 
have  friends  in  Philadelphia,  you  can  go  to 
see  them  in  just  two  hours.  When  Benjamin 
Franklin  first  took  the  coach  from  New  York 
to  Philadelphia  he  spent  four  days  on  the 
journey.  Why,  it  took  a  whole  week  to  go 
from  New  York  to  Boston.  So  you  see  we 
ought  to  be  thankful  for  the  street  cars,  and 
the  railways,  and  the  beautiful  automobiles, 
which  we  have  to-day;  and  yet,  they  are  so 
common,  we  do  not  think  about  them  at  all. 


THANKSGIVING  DAY 


211 


So  I  want  you  boys  and  girls  to  thank  God 
for  your  everyday  blessings. 

A  boy  was  once  bringing  home  a  loaf  of 
bread  when  a  gentleman  asked  him,  “What 
have  you  there?’' 

“A  loaf  of  bread.” 

“Where  did  you  get  it?” 

“From  the  baker.” 

“Where  did  he  get  it?” 

“He  made  it.” 

“Of  what  did  he  make  it?” 

“Flour.” 

“Where  did  he  get  the  flour?” 

“From  the  miller.” 

“Where  did  the  miller  get  it?” 

“From  the  farmer.” 

“Where  did  the  farmer  get  it?” 

Then  the  truth  suddenly  dawned  upon  the 
boy’s  mind,  and  he  said  “From  God.” 

x4nd  so,  boys  and  girls,  I  want  you  to  remem¬ 
ber  that  all  your  blessings  come  from  God,  and 
do  not  forget  to  say  “Thank  you,”  not  only 
on  one  day  of  the  year — our  national  Thanks¬ 
giving  Day — but  on  every  day. 

Do  you  know  this  story?  God  sent  two 
little  birds  out  of  heaven,  each  with  a  basket 
in  his  bill.  One  was  to  get  the  prayers  of  the 
people  who  wanted  something  from  God,  the 
other  little  bird  was  to  bring  back  the  “Thank 


212  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


you”  prayers.  In  a  few  hours  the  first  little 
bird  came  back  so  tired  and  his  wings  so  droop¬ 
ing  that  he  could  hardly  fly,  his  basket  was 
so  heavy,  filled  with  prayers  saying,  “I  want 
this,  and  I  want  that.” 

But  where  was  the  other  little  bird?  God 
waited  days  and  weeks,  and  finally  the  little 
bird  came  and  there  was  just  one  tiny  note  of 
“Thank  you”  in  the  basket.  Only  one  “Thank 
you”  and  so  many  “I  want”  prayers!  Will 
you  be  a  little  bird  who  brings  in  a  “Thank 
you”  to  God  for  every  blessing? 


L 


ARMISTICE  DAY 

What  day  do  we  observe  this  week?  Yes, 
Armistice  Day.  On  November  the  eleventh, 
IS  18,  at  eleven  o’clock  in  the  morning,  the 
Armistice  was  signed,  indicating  that  the  great 
World  War  was  over.  How  happy  we  all 
were!  Some  of  us  went  to  New  York,  and  we 
never  saw  such  a  celebration  in  all  our  lives. 
Bells  were  ringing!  There  were  parades  and 
bands.  The  streets  were  crowded  with  people 
singing  and  shouting,  or  crying  and  laughing, 
and  confetti  was  flying  in  ail  directions. 

W7hy  was  everyone  so  happy  on  Armistice 
Day?  There  were  two  reasons.  First,  we 
were  happy  because  the  armies  of  the  Allies 
had  won  the  victory — the  Kaiser  and  his  hosts 
were  defeated,  our  country  was  safe.  Our 
liberty,  our  democracy — yes,  the  democracy  of 
the  world — had  been  preserved.  You  will 
understand  what  this  means  as  you  grow 
older,  but  I  am  sure  that  you  boys  and  girls 
were  happy  because  the  Germans  were  defeated. 

The  second  reason  why  we  were  so  happy 
was  that  soon,  very  soon,  our  soldier  boys 

218 


214  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


would  be  coming  home  again.  While  we  were 
very  proud  of  them  when  they  went  away, 
we  were  very  sorry,  for  we  did  not  know  that 
we  should  ever  see  them  again.  So  on  Armis¬ 
tice  Day  we  were  all  very  happy  because  we 
knew  that  many  of  them  would  come  back 
home  to  us. 

Now,  you  boys  and  girls  will  probably  never 
go  to  war,  for  we  pray  that  there  will  never 
be  another  war  like  this  great  World  War. 
Yet  you  can  all  be  good  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ. 
That  requires  just  the  same  qualities  as  those 
needed  to  be  good  soldiers  of  your  country. 
Paul  tells  Timothy  just  what  these  qualities  are. 

First,  Paul  says,  “To  be  a  good  soldier  of 
Jesus  Christ,  you  must  endure  hardness.”  We 
all  know  how  our  soldiers  did  that.  A  business 
man,  serving  in  the  Young  Men’s  Christian 
xlssociation  in  France,  was  amazed  at  the  way 
the  American  soldiers  endured  hardness.  These 
boys  came  from  some  of  the  finest  homes  of 
America,  where  they  had  every  comfort  and 
convenience,  yet  in  France  they  lived  in  mud- 
huts  in  severest  cold,  wet,  and  mud,  and  they 
never  uttered  a  word  of  complaint.  He  said 
he  marveled  at  them  constantly  because  they 
did  not  simply  endure  hardship — they  laughed 
at  it,  they  derided  it,  and  made  the  best  of  it. 

Doctor  Conwell,  of  Philadelphia,  writes  that 


ARMISTICE  DAY 


215 


he  heard  President  Lincoln  tell  of  a  man  who, 
in  rail-splitting,  always  went  for  the  heaviest 
end  of  the  log.  How  they  admired  that  man, 
and  respected  him!  You  know,  boys  and  girls, 
most  people  do  not  do  that;  they  would  run 
for  the  light  end  of  the  log.  That  is,  they 
would  choose  the  easiest  task  and  leave  the 
hardest  for  some  one  else.  But  to  be  good 
soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ  we  must  endure  hard¬ 
ness.  We  must  be  willing  to  take  the  heavy 
end  of  the  log. 

Not  only  must  we  endure  hardness,  but  we 
must  endure  it  cheerfully  as  our  soldier  boys 
did.  How  they  laughed  and  sang  and  made 
sport  amid  all  their  hardships!  One  of  their 
songs,  you  remember,  was 

“What’s  the  use  of  worrying? 

It  never  was  worth  while, 

So  pack  up  your  troubles  in  your  old  kit-bag 
And  smile,  smile,  smile!” 

A  doctor  was  examining  the  wounded  men 
as  they  were  brought  into  an  emergency  sta¬ 
tion  near  the  battle  line  in  France.  When  he 
came  to  one  stretcher  where  the  soldier  was 
completely  covered  up  he  thought  this  soldier 
boy  was  unconscious,  when  suddenly  the  cov¬ 
ering  was  snatched  from  his  face  by  the  soldier 
himself  as  he  smiled  up  into  the  eyes  of  the 


216  STORY-SERMONS  EOR  JUNIORS 


surgeon.  Though  severely  wounded,  he  was 
having  his  little  joke  with  the  doctor.  He 
endured  hardship  and  suffering  cheerfully. 
That  is  what  Paul  tells  the  young  Christian 
to  do,  to  4 'Rejoice  in  the  Lord  always”;  and 
that  is  what  we  will  do  if  we  are  good  soldiers 
of  Jesus. 

The  third  thing  that  the  soldier  does  is  to 
learn  obedience.  In  fact,  that  is  one  of  the 
first  lessons  he  learns.  He  must  obey  his 
superior  officers,  no  matter  what  the  com¬ 
mands  are.  It  was  very  easy  for  the  boys  to 
obey  when  the  word  came  to  go  to  France, 
because  they  all  wanted  to  go.  But  some  of 
the  soldiers  were  ordered  to  stay  at  home  and 
do  necessary  work  here,  and  it  was  very  hard 
for  them  because  their  hearts  were  on  the 
other  side,  but  they  obeyed,  because  every 
good  soldier  is  obedient. 

You  boys  and  girls  must  learn  to  obey 
father  and  mother  and  teachers,  and  all  who 
are  in  authority  over  you.  This  is  true  even 
in  sports.  I  was  reading  the  other  day  of  a 
coach  who  was  drilling  a  football  team  in  one 
of  our  schools.  One  of  the  boys,  one  of  the 
very  best  players,  was  not  playing  as  he  had 
been  instructed,  when  the  trainer  said  to  him, 

"Why  don’t  you  fall  on  the  ball,  as  you  are 
told?” 


ARMISTICE  DAY 


217 


“I  don’t  feel  like  it,”  he  said. 

“Then  put  on  your  sweater  and  leave  the 
field,”  was  the  order;  and  he  did  not  allow 
him  to  come  back  that  season,  though  they 
needed  him  very  badly.  The  player  himself 
and  the  rest  of  the  school  did  not  think  that 
the  coach  would  send  him  off  because  the 
player  was  so  badly  needed.  But  the  coach 
believed  that  to  play  good  football  they  must 
learn  to  obey,  whether  they  felt  like  it  or  not. 
They  never  disobeyed  him  again. 

Last  of  all,  to  be  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ  we  must  be  unselfish  and  willing  to 
sacrifice.  How  unselfish  were  our  soldier  boys, 
how  willingly  they  gave  themselves  for  each 
other  and  their  country!  A  Young  Men’s 
Christian  Association  secretary,  wilting  from 
France,  tells  how  he  saw  a  British  colonel 
sitting  outside  a  dressing  station  and  asked 
him  why  he  did  not  go  in  and  have  his  wounds 
attended  to.  He  replied,  “It  isn’t  my  turn 
yet.”  Some  time  later  the  secretary  came 
along  again  and  spoke  to  the  colonel,  who  was 
still  sitting  outside.  He  saw  that  all  of  the 
men  who  had  been  wounded  had  received 
attention,  and  that  others  had  arrived  and 
had  also  been  treated.  So  he  asked  the  colonel 
the  same  question  again  and  received  the  same 
reply,  “It  is  not  my  turn  yet.”  You  see,  he 


218  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


had  given  up  his  turn  to  the  soldier  boys,  and 
that  was  doing  what  all  our  boys  were  con¬ 
stantly  doing — sacrificing  for  others;  yes,  and 
many  of  them  gave  up  their  lives.  So,  on 
Armistice  Day,  as  you  rejoice  because  so 
many  of  our  boys  are  safe  at  home  again,  I 
want  you  to  remember  the  boys  who  will  never 
come  back  because  they  gave  up  their  lives  in 
battle.  They  died  for  us.  Let  us  try  to  be 
worthy  of  them.  Now  let  us  stand,  with  heads 
bowed,  in  perfect  silence,  as  a  tribute  to  their 
memory. 


LI 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  WISE  MEN 

(Christmas) 

In  the  days  of  long  ago,  in  the  Far  East 
beyond  the  seas,  there  lived  men  who  studied 
the  stars.  They  were  called  “Magi,”  or  “Wise 
Men.”  They  studied  the  stars  because  they 
thought  that  in  them  they  could  foretell  the 
future.  They  built  their  watchtowers  along 
the  Tigris  and  other  Eastern  rivers,  so  they 
could  more  readily  observe  the  stars. 

One  night,  as  they  watched  the  heavens, 
they  saw  a  new  star  which  they  had  never 
seen  before.  It  was  thought  in  those  days  that 
when  a  new  star  appeared  some  great  king 
was  to  be  born,  and,  as  they  were  all  then 
expecting  a  great  king  to  rule  over  the  world, 
the  Wise  Men  at  once  concluded  that  the  star 
heralded  his  birth.  So  they  dressed  in  their 
finest  robes,  ordered  the  servants  to  get  the 
camels  ready  with  the  necessary  food  and 
water,  prepared  their  presents,  and  off  they 
started. 

Have  you  ever  seen  a  picture  of  them — the 
Wise  Men  going  in  front,  their  camels  gayly 

219 


220  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


decked  with  bright  trappings  and  embroideries, 
and  their  servants  following,  leading  the  camels 
with  their  baggage?  Some  of  the  servants 
were  armed  with  spears  and  swords  to  pro¬ 
tect  themselves  against  robbers. 

So  the  Wise  Men  started  on  their  long 
journey  through  the  desert,  over  the  hot 
yellow  sands  to  the  ‘'Jesus'  land,”  for  “Jesus” 
was  the  name  of  the  new  King.  The  bright 
star  which  they  had  seen  led  the  way,  being 
to  them  what  a  lighthouse  is  to  the  sailor  on 
a  dark  night — their  guide.  At  last  they  arrived 
at  Jerusalem,  and  we  can  imagine  what  a  stir 
they  wrould  cause,  as  they  asked,  “Where  is 
he  that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews?  for  we  have 
seen  his  star  in  the  east,  and  are  come  to 
worship  him?”  Suppose  a  few  strangers, 
dressed  in  long,  flowing  robes,  should  walk  up 
and  down  our  city  streets! 

At  last  King  Herod  heard  of  them.  Now, 
he  was  a  wicked  king  who  thought  his  enemies 
were  plotting  to  have  a  new  king.  So,  he 
sent  for  these  Wise  Men  and  examined  them 
carefully,  asking  them  wdien  they  first  saw  the 
star  and  ail  about  it.  Then  he  sent  for  the 
learned  men  of  the  Jews  to  see  if  they  knew 
where  this  new  King  was  to  be  born.  They 
told  him  “In  Bethlehem  of  Judaea”  and  they 
unrolled  their  scroll  and  read  this  prophecy: 


CHRISTMAS 


221 


“And  thou  Bethlehem,  in  the  land  of  Juda, 
art  not  the  least  among  the  princes  of  Juda: 
for  out  of  thee  shall  come  a  Governor,  that 
shall  rule  my  people  Israel: 

So  the  king  sent  the  Wise  Men  to  Bethle¬ 
hem,  telling  them  to  find  the  young  child  and 
bring  him  word  again.  Why?  He  said  he 
wanted  to  worship,  but  do  von  think  he  did? 
No,  he  wanted  to  kill  Jesus. 

The  Wise  Men  mounted  their  camels,  and 
off  they  started  again  in  the  quiet  of  the 
evening,  and  there  before  them  again  shone 
the  bright  star,  for  it  had  disappeared  when 
they  entered  Jerusalem.  Over  the  hills  and 
down  through  the  valleys,  they  followed  the 
star  in  the  moonlight,  until  they  came  to 
Bethlehem,  over  which  the  star  seemed  to 
hover.  There  they  camped  all  night,  and 
when  the  gates  of  the  city  were  opened  in  the 
morning,  they  went  in  and  found  the  house 
over  which  the  star  stood,  and  their  journey 
was  ended.  Ordering  the  servants  to  unpack 
their  gifts  they  entered  the  house  and  there 
were  Joseph  and  Mary  and  the  young  child 
Jesus  whom  they  had  come  so  far  to  find. 
How  happy  they  were  to  have  found  him! 
They  presented  their  gifts  of  gold,  frankin¬ 
cense,  and  myrrh — the  most  precious  things 
they  had — and  bowed  down  before  him. 


LII 


BLOTS 

Old  and  New  Year 

(Objects:  Sheet  op  White  Paper,  Pen, 
Eraser,  Knife) 

See  this  beautiful  piece  of  white  paper — 
not  a  speck  upon  it  anywhere.  I  take  my 
pen  to  write  a  message  upon  it  for  you.  There! 
what  have  I  done?  I  have  made  a  big  blot 
right  in  the  center  of  the  page.  Yes,  and  I 
am  afraid  that  sometimes  we  see  blots  just 
like  that  on  the  children's  copybooks,  spoil¬ 
ing  otherwise  perfect  pages. 

So,  boys  and  girls,  there  are  blots  of  sin 
and  selfishness  that  mar  your  lives.  If  during 
the  past  year  you  said  a  mean  thing  or  told 
a  wrong  story,  or  disobeyed,  then  you  made 
a  blot  on  your  life,  just  like  this  ink  blot  on 
the  paper.  How  shall  we  erase  these  blots? 

First,  let  us  write  over  them  and  see  if  we 
can  hide  them  in  that  way.  That  is  what  the 
rich  man  does  who  gets  his  money  dishonestly 
and  then  gives  to  charity,  hoping  to  square 
his  dishonest  acts.  But,  you  see,  the  blot  still 

222 


OLD  AND  NEW  YEAR 


223 


shows  through  the  writing.  We  cannot  wipe 
out  the  blots  on  our  lives  in  this  way. 

If  we  cannot  write  over  them,  let  us  try  to 
erase  them.  (Use  an  ink  eraser  and  a  knife.) 
Yes,  we  have  erased  the  blot;  but,  see,  boys 
and  girls,  I  have  left  a  hole  in  the  paper.  So 
every  sin,  even  though  it  be  no  more  than  a 
cross  word  or  a  bad  word,  leaves  its  mark  on 
our  lives. 

What,  then,  shall  we  do  with  our  blots? 
There  is  only  one  thing  to  do  and  that  is  to 
tell  God  about  them.  Never  try  to  hide  your 
mistakes  and  sins  from  God  any  more  than 
you  would  from  your  father  or  mother. 

A  friend  once  showed  Mr.  Ruskin  a  beau¬ 
tiful  handkerchief  that  had  been  ruined  by 
ink,  saying  that  he  was  so  sorry  about  it. 
Mr.  Ruskin  took  the  handkerchief  and  after 
awhile  sent  it  back  to  his  friend.  His  friend 
did  not  recognize  it,  for  the  artist  had  taken 
that  ugly  blot  and  drawing  other  lines  all 
around  it  had  worked  out  a  design  and  made 
a  beautiful  figure.  So,  boys  and  girls,  if  you 
confess  your  mistakes  to  God,  he  will  not  only 
forgive  you  but  he  will  take  your  lives  and 
make  them  beautiful  in  spite  of  the  blots. 

God  will  also  give  you  another  clean  white 
page  at  the  close  of  this  old  year  and  at  the 
beginning  of  the  new  so  that  you  may  do 


224  STORY-SERMONS  FOR  JUNIORS 


better  in  the  future.  Listen  to  this  little 
poem  by  C.  R.  Shaw,  which  gives  us  the  pic¬ 
ture  of  a  school  and  a  little  boy.  The  teacher 

is  speaking: 

“He  came  to  my  desk  with  a  quivering  lip- — - 
The  lesson  was  done. 

‘Dear  teacher,  I  want  a  new  leaf,'  he  said, 

‘I  have  spoiled  this  one.’ 

I  took  the  old  leaf  so  stained  and  blotted. 

And  gave  him  a  new  one,  all  unspotted. 

And  into  his  sad  eyes  smiled. 

‘Do  better  now,  my  child.’ 

“I  came  to  the  Throne  with  a  quivering  soul — 
The  hard  day  was  done. 

‘Dear  Father,  hast  thou  a  new  leaf  for  me? 

I  have  spoiled  this  one.’ 

In  place  of  the  leaf,  so  stained  and  blotted. 

He  gave  me  a  new  one,  all  unspotted. 

And  into  my  sad  heart  smiled, 

‘Do  better  now,  my  child.’ 

See  to  it,  boys  and  girls,  that  there  are  no 
blots  on  the  clean  white  page  during  this  beau¬ 
tiful  new  year.  Try  to  keep  it  unspotted! 

1  Poetry  and  Morals,  by  Louis  Albert  Banks.  Funk  &  Wagnalls  Co., 
publishers,  New  York.  Used  by  permission. 


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